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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. mate — to breed
  5. shower — rain
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. land — ground
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. shower — to wash
  14. land — a country
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. land — to come down
  18. wound — an injury
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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