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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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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: tube · prune · sharp · branch · hand · pitcher · wax · wake

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wake — a trail
  10. prune — to trim
  11. hand — help
  12. tube — a container
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wax — to grow
  15. branch — a division
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. tube — the underground
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. sharp — clever

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