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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. degree — from a university
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. degree — an amount
  7. spring — of water
  8. chest — a box
  9. spring — a coil
  10. chest — of your body
  11. degree — temperature
  12. fork — in a road
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. spring — the season
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. chest — of your body

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