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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: mine · wax · scale · fork · spring · club · cell · prune

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. spring — the season
  5. fork — in a road
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. prune — to trim
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wax — to grow
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cell — in biology
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. spring — of water
  21. club — for dancing
  22. club — for golf
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. mine — an explosive

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