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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: spell · wax · ground · rock · chest · prune · clip · calf

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wax — to grow
  4. prune — to trim
  5. ground — the earth
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spell — letters
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. spell — a short time
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. chest — a box
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — a position
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. rock — a stone
  20. rock — music
  21. clip — a video
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. spell — magic

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