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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. foot — a measure
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — to cut
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. saw — the tool
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cell — a phone
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. fall — the season

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