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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: land · prune · court · cold · suit · wax · board · band

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. land — a country
  3. board — to get on
  4. wax — to grow
  5. suit — to fit
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. cold — an illness
  8. board — a committee
  9. suit — clothes
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. court — for sport
  12. land — ground
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. suit — in cards
  17. cold — not warm
  18. land — to come down
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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