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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  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. trunk — of an elephant
  2. march — the month
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — hurry
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — of the year
  7. face — to confront
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. scale — size or range
  10. press — a publisher
  11. march — music
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. press — newspapers
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. face — to point toward
  16. season — in sport
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. march — the month
  20. face — part of the head
  21. press — to push
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — in music
  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