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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cold — an illness
  5. deal — to handle
  6. row — a line
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wax — to grow
  9. court — for sport
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — a lid
  18. court — of law
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bore — to tire
  22. court — of a king
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. row — a quarrel

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