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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 116 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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. stem — to come from
  5. content — the amount
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. sharp — clever
  12. content — happy
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. shower — to wash

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