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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. game — wild animals
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — a short time
  5. current — of water
  6. current — electric
  7. kid — to tease
  8. lean — to bend
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. current — happening now
  11. spell — magic
  12. kid — child
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. row — a line
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. stem — to come from
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. game — a match
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. row — to paddle
  24. lean — thin

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