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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. spell — a short time
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. chest — of your body
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. shower — to wash
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. game — wild animals
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wax — to grow
  18. spell — magic
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. spell — letters
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. chest — a box
  24. hide — to keep secret

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