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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. branch — a division
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. shower — rain
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. band — a ring
  19. shower — to wash
  20. snap — to click
  21. content — the amount
  22. band — a music group
  23. content — happy
  24. trunk — of a tree

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