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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. object — to protest
  5. object — a thing
  6. bat — the animal
  7. snap — to click
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. object — an aim
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. clip — for paper
  17. land — ground
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. land — a country
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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