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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. land — a country
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. toast — bread
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. shower — rain
  11. last — finally
  12. last — final
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. dip — to sink
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. last — to go on
  21. shower — to wash
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. dip — to dunk

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