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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 116 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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. clip — a video
  4. hand — help
  5. tube — a container
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. game — wild animals
  9. fall — to drop
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. bear — the animal
  12. tube — the underground
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. clip — for paper
  17. hand — in cards
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. bear — the animal
  24. hand — part of the body

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