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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: saw · chest · content · cold · bark · trunk · mug · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — the amount
  5. saw — the tool
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. content — happy
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mug — to rob
  12. mug — a face
  13. mug — a cup
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. chest — a box
  20. wax — to grow
  21. chest — of your body
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bark — 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