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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 · bark · board · fan · capital · field · roll · wax

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. field — a subject
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wax — to grow
  6. bark — to shout
  7. roll — a list
  8. field — for sport
  9. capital — money
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. roll — a cake
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. board — to get on
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. field — farmland
  18. capital — a city
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. board — a committee
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. wax — in the ear

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