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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cold — not warm
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — there
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cell — in biology
  8. charge — electricity
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cell — a phone
  12. charge — a price
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. present — the time now
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. charge — in control
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. cold — an illness
  23. lean — thin
  24. cold — the Cold War

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