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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 116 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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. spell — letters
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. swing — music
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. swing — to play on
  8. drill — the tool
  9. swing — in golf
  10. track — a path
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. spell — magic
  13. bat — the animal
  14. drill — a practice
  15. track — to keep track
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. spell — a short time
  18. drill — army training

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