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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. ground — crushed
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — the earth
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tear — to rip
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — the fruit
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. tear — from crying
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bat — the animal
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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