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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.

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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 · cell · present · fall · wind · bass · pit · wax

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. fall — the season
  7. cell — in biology
  8. bass — low music
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — the fish
  12. present — a gift
  13. present — the time now
  14. cell — a phone
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. present — there
  21. fall — to drop
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. pit — in a race
  24. wind — moving air

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