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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 116 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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. mine — for digging
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. face — to confront
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. branch — a division
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cold — not warm
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to point toward
  24. cold — an illness

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