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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. shower — to wash
  3. squash — the sport
  4. shower — rain
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. chair — a leader
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. degree — an amount
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bulb — for light
  13. pitch — completely
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. bulb — for light
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wax — to grow
  23. squash — to crush
  24. bulb — of a plant

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