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

Word bank: trunk · tear · cell · deal · snap · row

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. tear — to rip
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — to paddle
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cell — in biology
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — to handle
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to click
  18. row — a line

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