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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. rash — hasty
  6. field — for sport
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — music
  9. capital — a city
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. board — to get on
  14. drill — army training
  15. pop — to visit
  16. field — farmland
  17. board — a committee
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. field — a subject
  21. rash — a series
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — the tool

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