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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 124 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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. game — wild animals
  4. track — a song
  5. game — a match
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. wax — to grow
  8. press — to push
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. press — a publisher
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — not warm
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. track — a path
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. track — to keep track
  24. press — newspapers

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