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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. cold — an illness
  3. key — for a lock
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — tied together
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. bound — certain
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. key — in music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. key — the most important part
  18. wound — an injury

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