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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. band — a ring
  9. bank — of a river
  10. bank — for money
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bat — the animal
  13. can — to be able to
  14. wax — to grow
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. band — a music group
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. prune — to trim
  23. can — a tin
  24. bank — for money

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