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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rule — a law
  5. club — a group
  6. rule — government
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. land — a country
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. plane — a tool
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wind — moving air
  17. clip — for paper
  18. perch — the fish
  19. clip — a video
  20. land — ground
  21. club — for golf
  22. club — for dancing
  23. land — to come down
  24. plane — in geometry

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