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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. tear — to rip
  7. prune — to trim
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. squash — the sport
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. vault — a safe
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wax — to grow
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cold — an illness
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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