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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. mate — a partner
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. lean — thin
  11. lean — to bend
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. perch — the fish
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mate — to breed
  19. hand — help
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pound — a weight
  24. perch — for a bird

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