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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. wound — an injury
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — an illness
  8. field — farmland
  9. pit — a hole
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. field — a subject
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. branch — a division
  15. shower — to wash
  16. field — for sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. shower — rain
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wax — to grow
  23. pit — in a race
  24. wax — for sculpting

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