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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. chip — for betting
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bulb — for light
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. saw — the tool
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. fall — to drop
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. bulb — for light
  14. chip — to eat
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. scale — size or range
  17. game — wild animals
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. clip — to cut
  20. saw — the tool
  21. fall — the season
  22. game — a match
  23. fall — to drop
  24. scale — in music

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