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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. face — to confront
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kick — in football
  6. face — part of the head
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. land — ground
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. face — to point toward
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. land — a country
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. land — to come down

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