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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: drill · mouse · wax · court · cold · prune · lash · wind

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. drill — the tool
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. drill — army training
  11. wax — to grow
  12. court — of law
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. court — for sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. drill — a practice
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lash — an eyelash

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