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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 116 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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. season — in sport
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. press — newspapers
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. tear — from crying
  7. prune — to trim
  8. tear — from crying
  9. press — to push
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. dip — to sink
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitch — completely
  18. season — of the year
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. press — a publisher
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. mine — for digging
  24. tear — to rip

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