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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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Word bank
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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: content · kid · straw · wax · rash · trunk

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wax — to grow
  5. rash — hasty
  6. content — the amount
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. kid — child
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rash — a series
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. content — happy
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wax — in the ear

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