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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. kid — child
  9. tear — from crying
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bat — the animal
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. tear — to rip
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — in golf
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. swing — to play on

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