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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · bat · wax · prune · net · chair

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — the animal
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. net — for catching
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — a leader
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pound — a weight

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