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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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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: last · net · court · snap · prune · wax · stock · band

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. stock — shares
  3. band — a ring
  4. net — in sport
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. prune — to trim
  7. court — of a king
  8. band — a music group
  9. prune — to trim
  10. court — of law
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wax — to grow
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. stock — goods
  19. net — for catching
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. court — for sport
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. net — after costs

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