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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: wax · date · cold · fan · chest · spell · bound · prune

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. spell — magic
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. prune — to trim
  11. date — the fruit
  12. spell — a short time
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. chest — a box
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spell — letters
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bound — certain
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — on the calendar

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