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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: shower · wax · prune · cap · drill · content · bat · root

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. shower — to wash
  3. cap — a hat
  4. bat — the animal
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. root — of a word
  7. wax — to grow
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cap — a lid
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. root — the cause
  14. shower — rain
  15. content — happy
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. content — the amount
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. drill — the tool
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. drill — a practice
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. drill — army training

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