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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. bass — the fish
  7. file — a document
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bass — low music
  10. chest — a box
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. rock — a stone
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chest — of your body
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. cold — not warm
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rock — music
  23. foot — a measure
  24. trunk — of a tree

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