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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. net — in sport
  3. track — to keep track
  4. cold — an illness
  5. track — a path
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. band — a music group
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — for catching
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. prune — to trim
  14. track — a song
  15. bear — the animal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. bear — the animal
  20. band — a ring
  21. net — after costs
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. trunk — of a car

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