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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. shower — rain
  9. rule — government
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. shower — to wash
  12. race — humankind
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tube — a container
  17. race — a contest
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. perch — the fish
  22. race — the arms race
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rule — a law

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