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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. lean — thin
  3. tube — a container
  4. chest — a box
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. roll — a list
  9. wax — to grow
  10. lean — to bend
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chest — of your body
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. date — the fruit
  18. roll — a cake
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. cell — a phone

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