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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cell — a phone
  5. clip — for paper
  6. object — a thing
  7. object — an aim
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. object — to protest
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. cell — in biology
  13. fall — the season
  14. plane — a tool
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — a series
  21. fall — to drop
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. fall — to drop

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