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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. scale — in music
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. lie — to recline
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. bat — the animal
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. clip — a video
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. scale — size or range

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