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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: lean · wax · game · prune · tear · net · file · court

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. court — of a king
  4. tear — from crying
  5. court — of law
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. net — after costs
  8. game — wild animals
  9. prune — to trim
  10. file — a document
  11. wax — to grow
  12. file — a line of people
  13. net — for catching
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. file — a tool
  16. lean — to bend
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. game — a match
  19. prune — to trim
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. tear — from crying
  22. lean — thin
  23. tear — to rip
  24. court — for sport

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