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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: prune · mine · chair · staff · bat · race · wax · root

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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. chair — a professorship
  2. staff — employees
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. race — humankind
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. race — a contest
  9. prune — to trim
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. root — of a word
  13. staff — a stick
  14. race — the arms race
  15. root — of a plant
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mine — for digging
  21. root — the cause
  22. staff — employees
  23. wax — to grow
  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