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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wax — to grow
  4. tear — from crying
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. sharp — clever
  10. fine — all right
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. game — a match
  13. game — wild animals
  14. band — a ring
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. band — a music group
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. tear — to rip
  24. band — a rubber band

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