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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. object — an aim
  3. rest — what's left
  4. capital — money
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. object — to protest
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. dip — to sink
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. shower — to wash
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. object — a thing
  22. capital — a city
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. shower — rain

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