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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. foot — a measure
  3. tube — the underground
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pop — to visit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pop — music
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. club — for golf
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pop — soda
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fork — in a road
  21. tube — a container
  22. club — for dancing
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. club — a group

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