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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. last — to go on
  3. spring — of water
  4. stem — to come from
  5. spring — a coil
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. last — final
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. bore — to drill
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. bore — to tire
  15. plane — a tool
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. last — finally
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. spring — the season
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. prune — the fruit

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