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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. drill — army training
  3. fall — the season
  4. wax — to grow
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cold — not warm
  7. drill — the tool
  8. pop — to visit
  9. current — of water
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fall — to drop
  16. prune — to trim
  17. current — happening now
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. prune — to trim
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. fall — to drop
  22. current — electric
  23. pop — soda
  24. cold — the Cold War

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