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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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. cell — a phone
  3. wound — an injury
  4. march — the month
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. march — music
  9. plane — a tool
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. rash — a series
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. wound — an injury
  17. march — the month
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rash — hasty
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. stem — to come from
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. rash — on the skin

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