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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. wound — an injury
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cold — an illness
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — to handle
  12. row — to paddle
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. row — a line
  16. content — the amount
  17. last — to go on
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. content — happy
  22. last — final
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. last — finally

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