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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. capital — a city
  3. plane — a tool
  4. shower — rain
  5. scale — in music
  6. cell — a phone
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. hand — help
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. hand — in cards
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. capital — money
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. cell — in biology
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. scale — size or range
  20. rush — hurry
  21. shower — to wash
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. capital — a big letter

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