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

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bound — obliged
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. cell — a phone
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. cell — in biology
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bound — certain
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses

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