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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 124 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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  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. wax — for sculpting
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bear — the animal
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cell — a phone
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wind — moving air
  15. last — final
  16. last — to go on
  17. date — the fruit
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. last — finally
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bear — the animal
  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