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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. shower — to wash
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rest — a break
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. shower — rain
  11. spring — the season
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lie — to recline
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rest — what's left
  18. sharp — clever
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. cell — in biology
  22. rest — what's left
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. spring — of water

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