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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. spell — letters
  3. rock — music
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. spell — magic
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rock — a stone
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. file — a document
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. perch — the fish
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. file — a line of people
  18. kick — in football
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. file — a tool
  22. spell — a short time
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. shower — rain

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