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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. lean — to bend
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bound — obliged
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. lean — thin
  13. bound — tied together
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bat — the animal
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. prune — to trim
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. bound — certain
  24. prune — to trim

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