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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. spring — a coil
  7. file — a line of people
  8. firm — decided
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rash — hasty
  11. firm — steady
  12. file — a tool
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. file — a document
  17. firm — a company
  18. perch — the fish
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. spring — the season
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. rash — a series

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