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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. tear — from crying
  7. land — a country
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. land — ground
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. tear — from crying
  15. land — to come down
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cell — a phone
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bear — the animal

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