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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the fish
  5. tear — to rip
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. tear — from crying
  8. dip — to sink
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. hand — in cards
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. bear — the animal
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. hand — help
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bear — the animal
  19. wound — an injury
  20. tear — from crying
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. row — a line
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. bear — to put up with

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