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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. wax — to grow
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. current — electric
  9. current — of water
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. prune — to trim
  17. game — a match
  18. kid — to tease
  19. current — happening now
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cold — not warm
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. kid — child

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