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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. spring — the season
  4. wax — to grow
  5. cell — a phone
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. spring — a coil
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. spring — of water
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fork — in a road
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. kid — child
  21. roll — a list
  22. roll — a cake
  23. cell — in biology
  24. trunk — of a tree

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