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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pop — music
  4. net — after costs
  5. pop — soda
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. prune — to trim
  9. swing — in golf
  10. pop — to visit
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. net — for catching
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. swing — music
  16. band — a music group
  17. prune — to trim
  18. band — a ring
  19. swing — to play on
  20. net — in sport
  21. wax — to grow
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. tear — from crying

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