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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: mine · rash · prune · spring · wax · net · root · shower

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spring — the season
  4. net — after costs
  5. root — of a plant
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. rash — hasty
  8. net — for catching
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. net — in sport
  12. root — of a word
  13. shower — rain
  14. wax — to grow
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mine — for digging
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — a coil
  20. rash — a series
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. root — the cause

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