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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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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 · stem · wax · cold · band · cell · pitch · vault

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. stem — to come from
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cold — an illness
  10. vault — a safe
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wax — to grow
  14. band — a music group
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. band — a ring
  20. cold — not warm
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. pitch — completely
  23. cell — a phone
  24. wax — in the ear

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