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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. rush — hurry
  3. mate — a friend
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. mark — a grade
  7. mate — to breed
  8. chest — of your body
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. race — a contest
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cap — a lid
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cap — a hat
  16. chest — a box
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. mark — a trace
  21. bark — to shout
  22. race — humankind
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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