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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  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. trunk — of a car
  2. band — a ring
  3. field — a subject
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — thin
  6. toast — bread
  7. court — of law
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. court — of a king
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. cap — a lid
  15. court — for sport
  16. lean — to bend
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. band — a music group
  19. field — farmland
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — of ice
  22. field — for sport
  23. wax — in the ear
  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