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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  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 a car
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — in sport
  4. spell — letters
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. degree — temperature
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fine — all right
  11. net — after costs
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — ground
  15. spell — a short time
  16. fine — high quality
  17. degree — an amount
  18. land — a country
  19. degree — from a university
  20. tear — to rip
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — in cards
  23. spell — magic
  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