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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 116 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. race — a contest
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. kid — child
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pound — a weight
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. band — a ring
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. pitch — completely
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. band — a music group
  19. race — the arms race
  20. spring — of water
  21. kid — to tease
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. spring — the season
  24. race — humankind

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