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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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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: arm · lean · bark · chair · wax · land · chest · trunk

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bark — to shout
  6. wax — to grow
  7. land — ground
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lean — to bend
  21. land — to come down
  22. chest — a box
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. land — a country

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