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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: bowl · rest · prune · wax · sharp · spell · shower · wound

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rest — a break
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wound — an injury
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. shower — to wash
  12. sharp — clever
  13. spell — magic
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. shower — rain
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wax — to grow
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — letters
  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