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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. wound — an injury
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pop — to visit
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mate — to breed
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. degree — an amount
  12. mate — a friend
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. branch — a division
  17. pop — music
  18. mate — a partner
  19. wind — moving air
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wound — an injury
  22. plane — a tool
  23. pop — soda
  24. branch — of a bank

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