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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. snap — to click
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. sharp — clever
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. fork — in a road
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. mine — for digging
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. stand — to bear

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