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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. fall — the season
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. spring — a coil
  11. row — to paddle
  12. row — a line
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ground — crushed
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ground — the earth
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. file — a document
  20. spring — of water
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. spring — the season
  24. row — a quarrel

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