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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. spell — letters
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. spell — magic
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — the arms race
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — hurry
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. race — a contest
  14. object — a thing
  15. object — an aim
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. object — to protest
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. spell — a short time
  21. stem — to come from
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. chair — a leader
  24. stem — a stem cell

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