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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. chest — of your body
  5. race — a contest
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stock — goods
  8. spring — the season
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. chest — a box
  11. spring — a coil
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. chest — of your body
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cue — for pool
  16. spring — of water
  17. roll — a cake
  18. race — humankind
  19. roll — a list
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cue — a signal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cue — a hint
  24. stock — shares

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