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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. chest — of your body
  3. track — to keep track
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. stock — shares
  6. track — a song
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — to bear
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. track — a path
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stock — goods
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. chest — a box

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