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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. toast — bread
  3. track — a path
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. fall — to drop
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. track — to keep track
  9. pitch — completely
  10. face — to point toward
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pop — to visit
  13. pop — music
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. fall — the season
  18. pop — soda
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. face — part of the head
  21. track — a song
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. face — to confront
  24. straw — dry grass

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