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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. last — finally
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. clip — for paper
  10. last — to go on
  11. shower — rain
  12. clip — to cut
  13. board — a committee
  14. pound — a weight
  15. clip — a video
  16. rush — hurry
  17. shower — to wash
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. last — final
  21. date — the fruit
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. board — to get on
  24. date — on the calendar

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