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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. foot — a measure
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. bore — to drill
  5. rock — a stone
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bore — to tire
  9. face — to point toward
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. land — to come down
  12. bass — low music
  13. face — part of the head
  14. cold — not warm
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. cold — an illness
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. face — to confront
  20. bass — the fish
  21. land — ground
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. land — a country

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