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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. cold — not warm
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mark — a grade
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. roll — a cake
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. kick — in football
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mark — a trace
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — an illness
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a list
  24. trunk — of a tree

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