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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 120 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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. bark — to shout
  3. file — a tool
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. mark — a grade
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — hasty
  11. mark — a trace
  12. row — to paddle
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. rash — a series
  16. race — a contest
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. row — a line
  24. race — humankind

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