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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — for golf
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. present — a gift
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. shower — rain
  11. wound — an injury
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — humankind
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. wound — an injury
  17. present — the time now
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. snap — to click
  20. present — there
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. club — a group
  23. mine — for digging
  24. race — a contest

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