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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cell — a phone
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. shower — rain
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — a subject
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. cell — in biology
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. field — farmland
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. fall — the season
  21. bulb — for light
  22. field — for sport
  23. bulb — for light
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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