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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. kid — child
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. pop — to visit
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bat — the animal
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. pop — music
  15. cell — in biology
  16. lean — to bend
  17. lean — thin
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pop — soda
  22. kid — to tease
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — a trainer

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