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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. present — the time now
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. cell — in biology
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. prune — to trim
  9. ground — the earth
  10. mug — a cup
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mug — to rob
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. swing — to play on
  17. wax — to grow
  18. ground — a position
  19. mug — a face
  20. present — a gift
  21. cell — a phone
  22. swing — in golf
  23. prune — to trim
  24. swing — music

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