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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. season — in sport
  3. tube — the underground
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. prune — to trim
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. snap — to click
  16. ground — crushed
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. prune — to trim
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. season — of the year

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