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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. scale — size or range
  3. spell — letters
  4. tear — to rip
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. spring — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. spell — a short time
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. spring — of water
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. tear — from crying
  15. spring — a coil
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. fall — to drop
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. tear — from crying
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. spell — magic

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