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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. track — a path
  5. saw — the tool
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. track — to keep track
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. wax — to grow
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. foot — a measure
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. track — a song
  18. saw — the tool
  19. kick — in football
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. foot — the bottom

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