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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. roll — a list
  3. lie — to recline
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. wake — a trail
  7. present — a gift
  8. swing — music
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. ground — the earth
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. present — there
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. bat — the animal
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — crushed
  20. roll — a cake
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. present — the time now

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