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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: stem · present · wind · last · wax · roll · pitch · trunk

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. roll — a cake
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. roll — a list
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — to grow
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. last — finally
  12. stem — to come from
  13. present — there
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. last — final
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. last — to go on
  21. present — a gift
  22. pitch — completely
  23. wind — to turn a key
  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