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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — soda
  4. hand — help
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. hand — in cards
  7. degree — temperature
  8. stem — to come from
  9. mate — a partner
  10. pop — music
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a ring
  17. degree — from a university
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. mate — a friend
  22. mate — to breed
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. hand — part of the 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