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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. chest — of your body
  3. kid — child
  4. land — a country
  5. chair — a leader
  6. land — ground
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. wake — a trail
  11. land — to come down
  12. last — final
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. last — to go on
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. last — finally
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. chair — to sit on

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