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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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. clip — for paper
  4. fall — the season
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. cap — a lid
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cap — a hat
  9. fall — to drop
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cap — of ice
  12. clip — a video
  13. shower — rain
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — for catching
  16. bark — to shout
  17. net — in sport
  18. fall — to drop
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bore — to drill
  23. bore — to tire
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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