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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. can — a tin
  3. track — to keep track
  4. track — a path
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. can — to be able to
  11. cold — not warm
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. can — a tin
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. track — a song
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tube — the underground
  22. land — a country
  23. land — to come down
  24. tube — a container

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