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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mug — a cup
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a document
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mug — a face
  10. degree — from a university
  11. rest — a break
  12. wind — moving air
  13. file — a tool
  14. clip — to cut
  15. degree — an amount
  16. clip — a video
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mug — to rob
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. degree — temperature
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rest — what's left
  24. shower — to wash

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