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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: bat · arm · stem · wax · kid · ground · trunk · squash

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  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. wax — to grow
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bat — the animal
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. kid — child
  7. stem — to come from
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. ground — crushed
  10. kid — to tease
  11. squash — the sport
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. ground — a position
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. ground — the earth
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. squash — to crush
  23. trunk — of a car
  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