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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. row — a line
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. bound — certain
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. bound — tied together
  9. clip — a video
  10. rest — a break
  11. stand — to bear
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. rest — what's left
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. rest — what's left
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bound — obliged
  23. scale — in music
  24. stand — for spectators

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