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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: clip · row · ruler · wax · lean · trunk · content · arm

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wax — to grow
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — happy
  6. lean — thin
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. content — the amount
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. ruler — for measuring
  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