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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. file — a line of people
  3. court — of law
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. court — of a king
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. current — electric
  9. tube — a container
  10. shower — to wash
  11. court — for sport
  12. cold — an illness
  13. file — a document
  14. cold — not warm
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. file — a tool
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — the underground
  21. current — of water
  22. shower — rain
  23. current — happening now
  24. safe — a strongbox

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