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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bark · squash · trunk · wax · hand · mug · cold · wind

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hand — help
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. mug — a cup
  13. squash — to crush
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mug — a face
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. mug — to rob
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wind — moving air
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. squash — the sport
  24. wind — moving air

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