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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wound — an injury
  11. scale — in music
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cold — not warm
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fork — in a road
  24. patient — a sick person

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