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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cell — a phone
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — a tool
  7. mine — for digging
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. row — to paddle
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. row — a line
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — shares
  17. wax — to grow
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. stock — goods
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. fork — in a road

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