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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: chest · cold · prune · perch · saw · wax · hand · deal

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cold — not warm
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cold — an illness
  6. hand — help
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. hand — in cards
  16. saw — the tool
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. deal — to handle
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. wax — to grow
  24. deal — a big deal

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