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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bat — the animal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wound — an injury
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. rest — a break
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. wound — an injury
  13. scale — in music
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. roll — a cake
  20. scale — size or range
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. rest — what's left
  23. roll — a list
  24. trunk — of a car

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