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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. prune — to trim
  3. land — a country
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wind — moving air
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. suit — in cards
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. rest — a break
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. capital — money
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rest — what's left
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. suit — to fit
  18. wind — moving air
  19. branch — a division
  20. rest — what's left
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. suit — clothes
  24. capital — a big letter

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