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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 120 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. shower — to wash
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. net — for catching
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — after costs
  9. rock — a stone
  10. sharp — clever
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. wax — to grow
  18. shower — rain

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