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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. sharp — clever
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bat — the animal
  10. can — a tin
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. can — to be able to
  14. date — the fruit
  15. lie — to recline
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. can — a tin
  22. bark — to shout
  23. tube — a container
  24. trunk — of a tree

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