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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. band — a music group
  3. land — to come down
  4. spring — of water
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. ground — crushed
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. face — to point toward
  11. ground — a position
  12. land — a country
  13. face — part of the head
  14. land — ground
  15. band — a ring
  16. spring — the season
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. ground — the earth
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. face — to confront
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. spring — a coil

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