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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: present · hand · wax · cold · last · trunk · stick · lie

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cold — not warm
  4. present — the time now
  5. last — to go on
  6. lie — to recline
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. wax — to grow
  9. last — finally
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. last — final
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. present — a gift
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. hand — help
  24. present — there

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