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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 120 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. race — a contest
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wake — a trail
  6. branch — a division
  7. cold — an illness
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. race — humankind
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. race — the arms race
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. perch — the fish

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