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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. rash — a series
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. content — happy
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. rash — hasty
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. tube — a container
  22. content — the amount
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. tube — the underground

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