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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. cell — a phone
  3. kick — in football
  4. rest — what's left
  5. cold — not warm
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. board — a committee
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. rest — what's left
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. rest — a break
  18. cell — in biology
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. board — to get on
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. pitch — completely
  23. cold — an illness
  24. board — a flat piece

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