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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — after costs
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. file — a tool
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wax — to grow
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. lie — to recline
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. wound — an injury
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. file — a document
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wound — an injury

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