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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. file — a tool
  4. march — the month
  5. rock — a stone
  6. march — the month
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rock — music
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — a series
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. file — a document
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — clever
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. march — music
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. wind — moving air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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