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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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. band — a ring
  4. wax — to grow
  5. last — finally
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. pass — a permit
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. band — a music group
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. last — final
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. deal — to handle
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. last — to go on
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. rest — a break
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. pass — to succeed

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