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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: suit · stock · cold · trunk · pitcher · wax · tear · lean

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. cold — not warm
  5. suit — to fit
  6. wax — to grow
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — goods
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. tear — from crying
  11. suit — in cards
  12. lean — thin
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. lean — to bend
  18. tear — to rip
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. suit — clothes
  23. stock — a soup base
  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