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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: leaves · trunk · kid · march · cell · tear

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. tear — to rip
  4. kid — child
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cell — in biology
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cell — a phone
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. march — the month
  18. cell — in a prison

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