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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. file — a line of people
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cell — a phone
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. file — a document
  18. stand — to bear
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a tool
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. pound — a weight

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