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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. row — to paddle
  3. row — a line
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pit — a hole
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wax — to grow
  10. game — a match
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a ring
  13. chair — a leader
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. game — wild animals
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. pit — in a race
  20. wind — moving air
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. wind — moving air

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