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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cold — an illness
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. cap — a lid
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. cap — a hat
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cold — not warm
  18. snap — to click
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. sharp — clever
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. file — a tool

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