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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. sharp — clever
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wake — a trail
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. net — in sport
  15. cold — an illness
  16. rush — hurry
  17. net — for catching
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. bass — low music
  23. net — after costs
  24. bass — the instrument

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