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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: trunk · content · wax · clip · wake · prune

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — to cut
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. prune — to trim
  12. clip — a video
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wax — to grow

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