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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. track — a song
  4. capital — money
  5. tube — the underground
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hand — help
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. track — a path
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. capital — a city
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. track — to keep track
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. content — the amount
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. tube — a container
  21. hand — in cards
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. trunk — of a car

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