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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 120 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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. mark — a grade
  3. rash — hasty
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. cold — not warm
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. rash — a series
  11. current — electric
  12. branch — a division
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mark — a trace
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. current — happening now
  18. mine — for digging
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. perch — the fish
  22. current — of water
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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