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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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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: fork · bowl · prune · wax · swing · cell

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — in golf
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. swing — music
  11. wax — to grow
  12. cell — a phone
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. prune — to trim

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