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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. staff — a stick
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. scale — in music
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. rest — what's left
  9. ground — the earth
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. staff — employees
  12. ground — a position
  13. staff — employees
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. spring — the season
  16. wound — an injury
  17. scale — size or range
  18. spring — a coil
  19. ground — crushed
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. spring — of water
  22. rest — a break
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. rest — what's left

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