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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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. cell — in biology
  4. tear — to rip
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — from crying
  8. field — a subject
  9. cell — a phone
  10. field — farmland
  11. wax — to grow
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bound — obliged
  14. field — for sport
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bound — tied together
  18. mark — a grade
  19. bound — certain
  20. press — a publisher
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. press — to push

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