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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. chest — a box
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. rule — government
  8. pit — in a race
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. row — a line
  11. chest — of your body
  12. row — to paddle
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bat — the animal
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. dip — to sink
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. pit — a hole
  23. rule — a law
  24. chest — of your body

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