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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. file — a document
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. spring — the season
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. current — of water
  8. current — happening now
  9. spring — of water
  10. file — a line of people
  11. kid — child
  12. spring — a coil
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. root — of a plant
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. root — of a word
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. root — the cause
  19. wind — moving air
  20. current — electric
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — to tease
  23. file — a tool
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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