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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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. tube — in a tire
  4. cap — of ice
  5. tube — the underground
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. spring — the season
  8. cap — a hat
  9. shower — rain
  10. spring — a coil
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — hasty
  14. tube — a container
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cap — a lid
  19. spring — of water
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. shower — to wash

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