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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · chest · capital · wax · nail · tube · cap · date

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cap — a hat
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wax — to grow
  7. date — the fruit
  8. capital — money
  9. tube — a container
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. tube — the underground
  13. prune — to trim
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. chest — a box
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cap — a lid
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. capital — a city
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cap — of ice

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