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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. pop — music
  4. bound — tied together
  5. shower — to wash
  6. perch — the fish
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. wax — to grow
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. pop — soda
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. land — ground
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. pop — to visit
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. shower — rain
  24. bound — certain

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