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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. fine — all right
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. wound — an injury
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. fine — high quality
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. bass — low music
  12. pop — music
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pop — to visit
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bass — the fish

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