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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: chair · wax · last · cue · mate · field · prune · wound

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cue — a signal
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. field — for sport
  9. mate — to breed
  10. last — finally
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. mate — a friend
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. last — final
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mate — a partner
  23. cue — a hint
  24. cue — for pool

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