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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: straw · deal · wind · cabinet · last · march · prune · wax

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wind — moving air
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. deal — to handle
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. last — final
  17. march — the month
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. march — the month
  22. prune — to trim
  23. march — music
  24. wax — to grow

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