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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: hand · cell · trunk · wax · date · nail · present · ground

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. present — the time now
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. ground — crushed
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. ground — a position
  9. present — there
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wax — to grow
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. date — the fruit
  14. cell — a phone
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. present — a gift
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. ground — the earth

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