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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  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. key — the most important part
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. row — to paddle
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. wax — to grow
  6. key — for a lock
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. key — in music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chest — of your body
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. row — a line
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. row — a quarrel
  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