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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 120 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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. stock — shares
  3. ground — crushed
  4. cap — a lid
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cap — a hat
  7. fall — to drop
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. spring — the season
  10. rock — a stone
  11. kid — child
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. spring — of water
  17. kid — to tease
  18. rock — music
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. spring — a coil
  23. stock — goods
  24. cap — of ice

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