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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 · lean · row · drill · fall · race · kid · hide

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. lean — thin
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. lean — to bend
  5. fall — to drop
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. race — a contest
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. drill — the tool
  10. kid — to tease
  11. fall — the season
  12. kid — child
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. drill — army training
  19. race — humankind
  20. row — a line
  21. fall — to drop
  22. race — the arms race
  23. drill — a practice
  24. row — to paddle

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