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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 116 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  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. pop — soda
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. root — of a plant
  5. drill — the tool
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. file — a document
  9. root — of a word
  10. drill — army training
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. file — a line of people
  15. pop — music
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. file — a tool
  21. root — the cause
  22. pop — to visit
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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