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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wax — to grow
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. spring — of water
  8. lie — to recline
  9. file — a document
  10. cell — a phone
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. spell — letters
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. spring — the season
  17. stock — shares
  18. cell — in biology
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. file — a tool
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — magic
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stock — goods

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