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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. current — of water
  4. last — final
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. hand — help
  7. row — a line
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. clip — to cut
  11. last — to go on
  12. current — electric
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. current — happening now
  16. last — finally
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. row — to paddle
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. hand — in cards
  23. snap — to click
  24. hand — part of the body

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