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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. clip — to cut
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a list
  9. content — the amount
  10. chip — to eat
  11. clip — for paper
  12. chest — of your body
  13. roll — a cake
  14. spell — letters
  15. clip — a video
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chest — a box
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. content — happy
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. spell — magic
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. spell — a short time

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