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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. scale — in music
  4. cell — a phone
  5. scale — size or range
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. march — the month
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. cell — in biology
  12. land — ground
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. kid — to tease
  15. sharp — clever
  16. march — music
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. land — to come down
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. march — the month
  22. land — a country
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. kid — child

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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