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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: trunk · field · wound · net · degree · wax · hand · suit

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. wound — an injury
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wound — an injury
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. net — after costs
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — help
  11. net — in sport
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wax — to grow
  16. field — for sport
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. suit — clothes
  19. field — a subject
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. field — farmland
  22. suit — to fit
  23. suit — in cards
  24. wax — for sculpting

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