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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. rock — a stone
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. cold — an illness
  10. file — a document
  11. bound — tied together
  12. file — a tool
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. rock — music
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. bound — obliged
  19. file — a line of people
  20. stem — to come from
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bound — certain

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