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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. race — humankind
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pound — a weight
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. race — a contest
  23. tear — to rip
  24. race — the arms race

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