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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. staff — employees
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. hand — help
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. squash — to crush
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. squash — the sport
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. row — a line
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. hand — in cards
  16. staff — employees
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. row — to paddle
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. staff — a stick

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