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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. last — to go on
  3. net — after costs
  4. wake — a trail
  5. net — for catching
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. bear — the animal
  8. march — the month
  9. last — finally
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. net — in sport
  13. chest — of your body
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bear — the animal
  20. clip — for paper
  21. chest — a box
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. last — final

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