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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 120 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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. charge — in control
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wax — to grow
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. hand — in cards
  8. prune — to trim
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. hand — help
  12. clip — for paper
  13. tube — the underground
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. charge — a price
  18. tube — a container
  19. charge — electricity
  20. root — of a plant
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. root — the cause
  23. prune — to trim
  24. root — of a word

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