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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · bat · court · rash · wax · land · pit · trunk

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. pit — a hole
  5. land — to come down
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — of law
  10. land — a country
  11. rash — a series
  12. pit — in a race
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. chest — a box
  15. wax — to grow
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. court — for sport
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rash — hasty
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. land — ground

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