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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. last — to go on
  3. cap — a lid
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. last — final
  6. march — music
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. staff — employees
  12. rush — hurry
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. march — the month
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — of ice
  20. staff — employees
  21. last — finally
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. march — the month
  24. rush — a thrill

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