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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 120 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: land · wax · chair · rush · pitch · prune · vault · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. prune — to trim
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. land — ground
  6. land — a country
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. vault — a safe
  10. pitch — completely
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. rush — hurry
  14. chair — a leader
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. prune — to trim
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. spring — a coil
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. spring — of water
  24. chair — to sit on

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