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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rash — a series
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. cell — a phone
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. rash — hasty
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bat — the animal
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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