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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. ground — the earth
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. land — ground
  7. pit — a hole
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. kid — to tease
  10. file — a tool
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. file — a document
  14. pit — in a race
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kid — child
  17. ground — a position
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. land — to come down
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. ground — crushed
  22. foot — a measure
  23. land — a country
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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