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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. shower — rain
  3. cold — an illness
  4. roll — a list
  5. track — to keep track
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. track — a song
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. track — a path
  10. net — after costs
  11. squash — the sport
  12. net — in sport
  13. press — newspapers
  14. roll — a cake
  15. cold — not warm
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. press — a publisher
  19. shower — to wash
  20. net — for catching
  21. squash — to crush
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. press — to push
  24. cold — the Cold War

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