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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. prune — to trim
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. chest — of your body
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. file — a tool
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. chest — of your body
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. file — a document
  20. ground — crushed
  21. chip — to eat
  22. bat — the animal
  23. chest — a box
  24. chip — for betting

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