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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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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 · cold · wax · content · fork · lash · prune · stick

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. shower — rain
  5. content — happy
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. shower — to wash
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fork — in a road
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. prune — to trim
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. prune — to trim
  22. content — the amount
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. wax — to grow

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