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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. land — a country
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chest — a box
  8. spring — a coil
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. chest — of your body
  11. land — to come down
  12. spring — of water
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. land — ground
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. pop — music
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. spring — the season
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. chest — of your body
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. pop — soda
  23. pop — to visit
  24. calf — a young animal

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