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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: mine · wax · sharp · perch · stock · kid · trunk · roll

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. perch — the fish
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. kid — to tease
  8. stock — shares
  9. mine — for digging
  10. roll — a cake
  11. wax — to grow
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. sharp — clever
  16. kid — child
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. roll — a list
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. stock — goods
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. trunk — of a car

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