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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. net — in sport
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. net — after costs
  8. land — to come down
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. land — ground
  11. land — a country
  12. spring — of water
  13. net — for catching
  14. spring — the season
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. wax — to grow
  18. trunk — of a tree

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