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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. bat — the animal
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. mine — for digging
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. plane — a tool
  19. rash — a series
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. clip — for paper
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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