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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — thin
  4. wind — moving air
  5. march — the month
  6. wind — moving air
  7. club — for dancing
  8. key — for a lock
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. degree — an amount
  13. club — a group
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. march — music
  16. degree — from a university
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. march — the month
  20. degree — temperature
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. club — for golf
  23. key — in music
  24. key — the most important part

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