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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. last — to go on
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. content — the amount
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. stem — to come from
  9. face — part of the head
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. face — to point toward
  12. wound — an injury
  13. content — happy
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. face — to confront
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. trunk — of a car

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