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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. row — to paddle
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. mate — a partner
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. kid — child
  11. mate — a friend
  12. bark — to shout
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — in music
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wake — a trail
  18. mate — to breed
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. kid — to tease
  21. hand — help
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — a line
  24. trunk — of a tree

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