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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bulb — for light
  4. content — happy
  5. game — a match
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — thin
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — wild animals
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. content — the amount
  15. tube — a container
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bark — to shout
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — army training
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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