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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. net — for catching
  5. capital — a city
  6. face — to point toward
  7. face — part of the head
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. net — in sport
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. bat — the animal
  20. net — after costs
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. face — to confront
  24. bat — for baseball

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