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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bulb — for light
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. swing — in golf
  10. rush — hurry
  11. pop — music
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bulb — for light
  15. wound — an injury
  16. swing — to play on
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. pop — soda
  22. fall — the season
  23. swing — music
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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