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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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Word bank
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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: straw · wave · lie · spell · trunk · degree · firm · chest

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. trunk — of an elephant
  3. spell — magic
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. chest — a box
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. degree — an amount
  10. firm — decided
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. spell — a short time
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — to recline
  17. firm — a company
  18. spell — letters
  19. degree — temperature
  20. firm — steady
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. degree — from a university
  23. chest — of your body
  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