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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: row · prune · kid · band · pound · fan · wax · plane

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. 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. plane — an aircraft
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. kid — to tease
  8. row — to paddle
  9. plane — a tool
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. row — a line
  12. band — a music group
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. prune — to trim
  16. kid — child
  17. band — a ring
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — to grow
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. 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