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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 116 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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. craft — boats
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. row — a line
  10. wax — to grow
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. plane — a tool
  14. field — a subject
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. row — to paddle
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. craft — a skill
  24. wind — moving air

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