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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. row — a line
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. lean — thin
  13. chest — a box
  14. lean — to bend
  15. swing — music
  16. sharp — clever
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — to play on
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. prune — to trim
  23. chest — of your body
  24. row — to paddle

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