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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. rush — hurry
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. shower — to wash
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. shower — rain
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. chest — a box
  19. fall — to drop
  20. lean — thin
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. lean — to bend
  23. fall — the season
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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