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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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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: prune · perch · cold · kid · swing · rule · pitcher · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rule — a law
  4. perch — the fish
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. swing — music
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. swing — in golf
  11. prune — to trim
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. prune — to trim
  19. swing — to play on
  20. kid — child
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cold — an illness
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. perch — for a bird

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