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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: tear · prune · wax · hand · dip · bat · row · tube

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. tube — the underground
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bat — the animal
  10. prune — to trim
  11. tear — from crying
  12. row — a line
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. tube — a container
  18. hand — help
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. wax — to grow
  21. hand — in cards
  22. tear — from crying
  23. dip — to sink
  24. tear — to rip

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