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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 · game · cold · band · straw · cabinet · wake · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wax — to grow
  3. prune — to trim
  4. band — a ring
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. game — a match
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. band — a music group
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. cold — an illness
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — wild animals
  24. cold — not warm

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