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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 116 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: lash · straw · kid · wax · net · court · prune · degree

  1. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  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. lash — an eyelash
  2. prune — to trim
  3. court — for sport
  4. wax — to grow
  5. degree — an amount
  6. court — of law
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. net — in sport
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. kid — child
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. degree — from a university
  14. prune — to trim
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. court — of a king
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. net — for catching
  23. kid — to tease
  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