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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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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: trunk · present · game · band · wax · content · lean · mine

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wax — to grow
  8. band — a music group
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. lean — thin
  11. game — a match
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. present — there
  14. mine — for digging
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. lean — to bend
  19. band — a ring
  20. present — a gift
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. present — the time now

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