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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. net — for catching
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — to grow
  5. prune — to trim
  6. hand — in cards
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — in sport
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. root — the cause
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. board — to get on
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hand — help
  17. root — of a word
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. root — of a plant
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. board — a committee

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