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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. mate — a friend
  6. wound — an injury
  7. file — a document
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. file — a tool
  14. chair — a leader
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. file — a line of people
  18. mate — to breed
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. mate — a partner

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