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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: fan · hand · track · land · prune · rule · jam · wax

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rule — government
  8. track — a song
  9. hand — help
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. land — a country
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. hand — in cards
  15. track — to keep track
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. wax — to grow
  20. rule — a law
  21. prune — to trim
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. land — to come down
  24. track — a path

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