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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ground — a position
  6. band — a music group
  7. fall — to drop
  8. last — finally
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. ball — a dance
  11. cue — for pool
  12. band — a ring
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. ground — crushed
  16. last — to go on
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. ball — a great time
  20. cue — a hint
  21. ground — the earth
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. cue — a signal
  24. ball — a round shape

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