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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chair — a leader
  3. content — happy
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. content — the amount
  6. chest — of your body
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. prune — to trim
  19. clip — a video
  20. chest — of your body
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. clip — for paper
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. clip — to cut

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