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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. land — to come down
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. land — a country
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. track — a song
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a path
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wound — an injury
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. wound — an injury
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. land — ground
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. snap — to click

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