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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. content — the amount
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. degree — from a university
  5. club — a group
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. shower — rain
  8. degree — temperature
  9. clip — for paper
  10. club — for dancing
  11. club — for golf
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. content — happy
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — a trail
  16. clip — to cut
  17. degree — an amount
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. clip — a video
  24. shower — to wash

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