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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. cold — not warm
  3. staff — employees
  4. net — after costs
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cold — an illness
  9. degree — an amount
  10. staff — a stick
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. staff — employees
  14. net — for catching
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. net — in sport
  17. pop — to visit
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pop — soda
  22. vault — a safe
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. pop — music

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