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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. clip — for paper
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — a video
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bear — the animal
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. lie — to recline
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. bear — the animal
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ball — a great time
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. clip — to cut

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