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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: kid · last · pound · scale · press · court · wax · prune

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. scale — in music
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. kid — to tease
  5. court — of law
  6. kid — child
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. last — to go on
  9. court — of a king
  10. pound — a weight
  11. last — finally
  12. last — final
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. scale — size or range
  18. press — newspapers
  19. court — for sport
  20. press — a publisher
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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