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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. land — a country
  3. bank — for money
  4. bank — of a river
  5. land — to come down
  6. file — a tool
  7. land — ground
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — to crush
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wax — to grow
  12. prune — to trim
  13. squash — the sport
  14. file — a document
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bank — for money
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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