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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cell — a phone
  7. sharp — clever
  8. squash — to crush
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — to confront
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. face — part of the head
  19. craft — a skill
  20. squash — the sport
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. craft — boats
  23. degree — an amount
  24. craft — a handicraft

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