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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 water is too ________________.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rock — a stone
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. plane — a tool
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. last — finally
  13. clip — to cut
  14. staff — a stick
  15. rock — music
  16. clip — a video
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. last — to go on
  19. staff — employees
  20. last — final
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. cold — an illness
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. staff — employees

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