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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: toast · trunk · snap · rest · wax · squash · wind · pitcher

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. toast — bread
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. squash — the sport
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. wind — moving air
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. wind — moving air
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. rest — a break
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. rest — what's left
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. squash — to crush
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. wax — to grow
  19. rest — what's left
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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