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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. ball — a great time
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. last — to go on
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. ball — a dance
  11. mug — a face
  12. kid — child
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. last — finally
  15. mug — a cup
  16. kid — to tease
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. shower — rain
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. deal — to handle
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bark — to shout
  23. mug — to rob
  24. last — final

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