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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — in football
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a document
  13. wind — moving air
  14. clip — to cut
  15. craft — a skill
  16. clip — a video
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. craft — boats
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. clip — for paper
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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