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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. hand — help
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bass — low music
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rock — music
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wound — an injury
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rock — a stone
  19. bass — the fish
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cold — an illness
  23. hand — in cards
  24. drill — a practice

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