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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wax — to grow
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rash — hasty
  7. land — ground
  8. mate — to breed
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. ball — a great time
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. land — to come down
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. ball — a dance
  20. wound — an injury
  21. land — a country
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. rash — a series
  24. mate — a friend

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