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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. band — a music group
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — a series
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. land — ground
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. chest — a box
  16. scale — in music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. mark — a grade
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. mark — a trace
  23. scale — size or range
  24. stem — to come from

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