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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. spell — magic
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. spell — a short time
  8. prune — to trim
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. chest — of your body
  11. spell — letters
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chest — a box
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wax — to grow
  16. rule — government
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. degree — temperature
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. rule — a law
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. branch — a division

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