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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 120 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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cap — a lid
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. staff — employees
  7. cap — of ice
  8. can — to be able to
  9. bat — the animal
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. staff — a stick
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. staff — employees
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. stem — to come from
  18. cap — a hat
  19. wax — to grow
  20. can — a tin
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. row — a line
  24. bat — in an idiom

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