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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 116 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: game · hand · wax · last · file · club · prune · cue

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. file — a document
  4. cue — for pool
  5. wax — to grow
  6. game — wild animals
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. game — a match
  9. cue — a signal
  10. prune — to trim
  11. last — final
  12. file — a line of people
  13. hand — in cards
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. file — a tool
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — finally
  18. cue — a hint
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. prune — to trim
  21. club — for golf
  22. hand — help
  23. club — a group
  24. prune — the fruit

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