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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. chest — of your body
  6. club — for dancing
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. root — of a word
  12. snap — to click
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — to grow
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. club — a group
  19. chest — of your body
  20. club — for golf
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. root — of a plant
  24. chest — a box

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