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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 120 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. lie — to recline
  4. bound — obliged
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bound — certain
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. wind — moving air
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. prune — to trim
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wind — moving air
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — rain
  23. file — a tool
  24. bound — tied together

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