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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. prune — to trim
  4. march — the month
  5. bass — low music
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. wax — to grow
  8. court — of a king
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. march — music
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. face — part of the head
  16. court — of law
  17. prune — to trim
  18. snap — to click
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. march — the month
  22. face — to point toward
  23. face — to confront
  24. court — for sport

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