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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. bear — the animal
  3. hand — help
  4. mug — a cup
  5. drill — army training
  6. mug — a face
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. track — a song
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bear — the animal
  13. mug — to rob
  14. track — a path
  15. clip — for paper
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a tool
  18. track — to keep track
  19. clip — a video
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. drill — the tool
  22. clip — to cut
  23. file — a document
  24. drill — a practice

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