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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. saw — the tool
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. kid — to tease
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. last — to go on
  17. wax — to grow
  18. court — of a king
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. court — for sport
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. court — of law
  23. pitch — completely
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com