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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: lie · wax · cell · chair · bat · field · trunk · last

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wax — to grow
  5. last — to go on
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. chair — a leader
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. cell — in biology
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. last — finally
  12. lie — to recline
  13. last — final
  14. field — for sport
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. bat — the animal
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bat — in an idiom

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