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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.

Make a worksheet

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: leaves · wind · prune · last · cold · wax · land · pop

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. last — to go on
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. cold — not warm
  6. last — final
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pop — music
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. last — finally
  12. pop — soda
  13. land — ground
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wax — to grow
  16. land — to come down
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. prune — to trim
  19. land — a country
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. pop — to visit
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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