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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wax — to grow
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bark — to shout
  9. snap — to click
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. field — farmland
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. wave — with your hand

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