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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 · vault · kid · wax · bowl · fan · wind · pitcher

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. vault — a safe
  15. kid — child
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. kid — to tease
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. pitcher — a jug

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