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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 120 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 · hand · rash · band · drill · wax · pass · capital

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. drill — the tool
  3. capital — a city
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. drill — army training
  6. prune — to trim
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. band — a music group
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. pass — a permit
  13. rash — hasty
  14. band — a ring
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. rash — a series
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. prune — to trim
  20. drill — a practice
  21. capital — money
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — in cards

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