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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: lean · pit · row · wax · rash · sharp · kid · prune

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — thin
  3. prune — to trim
  4. rash — hasty
  5. wax — to grow
  6. sharp — clever
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. row — a line
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. kid — child
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. rash — a series
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pit — a hole
  20. kid — to tease
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. row — to paddle
  24. pit — in a race

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