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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. can — a tin
  5. can — to be able to
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pop — to visit
  9. lean — to bend
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. lean — thin
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pop — soda
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pop — music
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. shower — to wash
  21. can — a tin
  22. bat — the animal
  23. shower — rain
  24. trunk — of a tree

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