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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bark — to shout
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bulb — for light
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. ball — a great time
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. game — a match
  14. ball — a dance
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. row — a line
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. row — to paddle
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. ball — a round shape

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