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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — ground
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. cold — an illness
  23. land — a country
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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