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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. last — final
  3. cell — in biology
  4. last — finally
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. rash — a series
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. stock — goods
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. rash — hasty
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. stock — shares
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. last — to go on
  21. cell — a phone
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. stock — a soup base

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