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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. court — of a king
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. court — for sport
  8. last — to go on
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. dip — to sink
  12. bound — tied together
  13. mark — a trace
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — for betting
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. mark — a grade
  20. wind — moving air
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. court — of law
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — obliged

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