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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. trunk — of a tree
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. perch — the fish
  5. rock — music
  6. drill — the tool
  7. rock — a stone
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cap — a lid
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. ground — a position
  14. cold — an illness
  15. drill — army training
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — crushed
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cap — a hat
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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