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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. rush — hurry
  4. drill — a practice
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — the animal
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. prune — to trim
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. ball — a great time
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. cold — not warm
  22. drill — army training
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. drill — the tool

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