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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. land — to come down
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. stem — to come from
  6. prune — to trim
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pass — a permit
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. land — a country
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a ring
  17. snap — to click
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. land — ground
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. wind — to turn a key

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