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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 120 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. row — a line
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. swing — in golf
  6. wax — to grow
  7. rest — a break
  8. object — a thing
  9. rush — hurry
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. swing — to play on
  16. object — an aim
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. swing — music
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. prune — to trim
  22. row — to paddle
  23. sharp — clever
  24. sharp — with an edge

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