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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. drill — a practice
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. clip — to cut
  8. ground — crushed
  9. squash — the sport
  10. drill — the tool
  11. fall — to drop
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. fall — to drop
  14. squash — to crush
  15. ground — a position
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. fall — the season
  18. drill — army training
  19. scale — size or range
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. ground — the earth
  24. scale — in music

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