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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: bowl · content · wax · wind · clip · trunk · swing · pitcher

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. content — happy
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. swing — in golf
  9. content — the amount
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. swing — to play on
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. swing — music
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. pitcher — a jug

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