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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. capital — a city
  3. wax — to grow
  4. shower — rain
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. game — a match
  14. lie — to recline
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bass — low music
  19. shower — to wash
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. bass — the fish
  22. prune — to trim
  23. capital — money
  24. game — a kind of play

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