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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. ground — the earth
  3. cold — not warm
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. chair — a leader
  8. face — to confront
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — magic
  11. key — for a lock
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. key — in music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. spell — letters
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. key — the most important part
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — a position
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. face — part of the head

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