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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. pop — soda
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. firm — a company
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. firm — steady
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. firm — decided
  12. pop — music
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pop — to visit
  16. can — to be able to
  17. deal — to handle
  18. prune — to trim
  19. can — a tin
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. can — a tin
  22. cold — an illness
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — not warm

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