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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 116 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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. march — music
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. march — the month
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. pound — a weight
  9. march — the month
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. perch — the fish
  18. kid — child
  19. scale — in music
  20. ground — a position
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. scale — size or range
  24. ground — crushed

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