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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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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: straw · pass · prune · fan · wax · rule · wind · present

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. rule — government
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. wind — moving air
  7. present — there
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. rule — a law
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. pass — a permit
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. present — a gift
  23. prune — to trim
  24. present — the time now

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