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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. mate — a friend
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. track — to keep track
  5. clip — to cut
  6. track — a song
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. clip — for paper
  10. ground — a position
  11. chest — of your body
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ground — the earth
  15. wind — moving air
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — to breed
  19. track — a path
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. ground — crushed
  22. chest — a box
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of a tree

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