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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  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 an elephant
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. wind — moving air
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. rest — a break
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cold — not warm
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rest — what's left
  15. content — happy
  16. rest — what's left
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. sharp — clever
  19. cold — an illness
  20. content — the amount
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. calf — a young animal
  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