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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: trunk · staff · chest · clip · march · pop · coach · wax

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pop — soda
  3. march — the month
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. clip — to cut
  6. staff — employees
  7. march — music
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — a stick
  10. clip — a video
  11. chest — a box
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. pop — music
  14. march — the month
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. clip — for paper
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pop — to visit
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wax — to grow
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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