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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. row — a line
  5. spring — of water
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. lean — thin
  11. spring — the season
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. spring — a coil
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. date — the fruit
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. dip — to sink
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. perch — the fish
  22. row — to paddle
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. lean — to bend

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