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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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 a car
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. ground — crushed
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. fall — the season
  8. ground — the earth
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. march — music
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cell — in biology
  13. fall — to drop
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — hasty
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cell — a phone
  19. plane — a tool
  20. rash — a series
  21. ground — a position
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cell — in a prison
  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