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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. saw — the tool
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. saw — the tool
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. bark — to shout
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wound — an injury
  20. row — a line
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wound — an injury
  24. trunk — of a car

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