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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. drill — army training
  7. drill — the tool
  8. degree — an amount
  9. drill — a practice
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. clip — to cut
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. toast — bread
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. clip — for paper
  18. hand — help
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. hand — in cards
  24. clip — a video

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