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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. plane — a tool
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. rock — music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. rock — a stone
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wax — to grow
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. prune — the fruit

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