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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. swing — in golf
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — of law
  5. capital — money
  6. wax — to grow
  7. swing — to play on
  8. spring — a coil
  9. capital — a city
  10. march — music
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. suit — in cards
  13. court — for sport
  14. swing — music
  15. march — the month
  16. spring — of water
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. suit — to fit
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. march — the month
  21. suit — clothes
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. spring — the season

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