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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bear — the animal
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cold — an illness
  5. march — the month
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. shower — rain
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. shower — to wash
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. content — happy
  14. march — the month
  15. toast — bread
  16. march — music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. content — the amount
  21. bear — the animal
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. toast — the most admired

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