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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
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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: wax · prune · rock · clip · coach · march · bat · mine

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. march — music
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. wax — to grow
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. rock — a stone
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. mine — for digging
  13. prune — to trim
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. clip — a video
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. march — the month
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. rock — music

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