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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: perch · saw · mine · trunk · roll · field · content · wax

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. saw — the tool
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. wax — to grow
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. roll — a list
  12. roll — a cake
  13. content — happy
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — farmland
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. perch — the fish
  18. field — for sport
  19. mine — for digging
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. content — the amount
  24. mine — an explosive

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