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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. track — a path
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wax — to grow
  9. cold — an illness
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. face — to confront
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. face — to point toward
  16. hand — help
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bear — the animal
  19. track — to keep track
  20. kid — child
  21. track — a song
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. face — part of the head
  24. hand — part of the body

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