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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. cell — in biology
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. cell — a phone
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. race — humankind
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. swing — music
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. ground — a position
  14. race — a contest
  15. shower — to wash
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. shower — rain
  19. ground — crushed
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pound — a weight
  22. swing — in golf
  23. ground — the earth
  24. race — the arms race

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