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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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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wind — moving air
  3. firm — decided
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. foot — a measure
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. firm — a company
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rush — hurry
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. firm — steady

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