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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. spring — of water
  4. chest — of your body
  5. spring — the season
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. chest — a box
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. wound — an injury
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. prune — to trim
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chest — of your body
  22. snap — to click
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. hide — animal skin

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