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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. prune — to trim
  4. stock — goods
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. chest — of your body
  7. stock — shares
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bass — the fish
  11. chest — a box
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rash — hasty
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. bass — low music
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. rash — a series
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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