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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. prune — to trim
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. toast — bread
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cold — not warm
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wax — to grow
  15. cold — an illness
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. pass — a permit
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. deal — to handle
  24. pass — to spend time

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