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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. fall — to drop
  3. root — of a word
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. date — the fruit
  9. root — of a plant
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. club — a group
  13. cold — not warm
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — for dancing
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — help
  23. root — the cause
  24. fall — the season

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