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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 120 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 · wind · straw · field · bay · tear · wax · firm

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wind — moving air
  6. field — for sport
  7. tear — from crying
  8. field — a subject
  9. tear — to rip
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. firm — decided
  13. wind — moving air
  14. firm — a company
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. firm — steady
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. field — farmland
  23. prune — the fruit
  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