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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cap — of ice
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. shower — rain
  6. craft — a skill
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. mine — for digging
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. craft — boats
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. row — a line
  18. charge — a price
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. row — to paddle
  22. charge — in control
  23. charge — electricity
  24. cold — not warm

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