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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 water is too ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. cold — not warm
  3. prune — to trim
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. object — an aim
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. snap — to click
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — shares
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the sport
  13. lean — thin
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cold — an illness
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. object — to protest
  18. lean — to bend
  19. object — a thing
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. prune — to trim

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