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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 124 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. prune — to trim
  3. track — a path
  4. prune — to trim
  5. track — a song
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. track — to keep track
  8. court — of a king
  9. pop — to visit
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. wax — to grow
  12. pop — soda
  13. court — of law
  14. race — humankind
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. race — a contest
  18. pop — music
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. race — the arms race
  23. court — for sport
  24. wind — moving air

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