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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. swing — to play on
  4. fall — to drop
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. swing — in golf
  7. wax — to grow
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. swing — music
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. rash — hasty
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. fall — the season
  15. court — for sport
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. court — of a king
  19. rash — a series
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. fall — to drop
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. court — of law

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