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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. current — of water
  3. cold — an illness
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. current — electric
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pop — to visit
  9. rash — a series
  10. press — to push
  11. current — happening now
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. pop — music
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pop — soda
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — a publisher
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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