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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: hand · trunk · squash · wax · rock · prune · row · fan

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. squash — the sport
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. rock — music
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. row — a line
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wax — to grow
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. rock — a stone
  14. hand — help
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. prune — to trim
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. row — to paddle
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. squash — to crush
  23. hand — in cards
  24. rock — to move gently

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