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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · trunk · stock · wind · wax · land · jam · cell

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wind — moving air
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. cell — a phone
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. cell — in biology
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. wound — an injury
  13. land — a country
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wind — moving air
  17. stock — goods
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. stock — shares
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. trunk — of a tree

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