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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  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 an elephant
  2. snap — to click
  3. pop — music
  4. craft — boats
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. net — in sport
  7. capital — a city
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. clip — to cut
  10. craft — a skill
  11. clip — a video
  12. capital — money
  13. pop — to visit
  14. net — for catching
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. pop — soda
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. net — after costs
  22. clip — for paper
  23. mouse — for a computer
  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