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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mug — a face
  5. root — the cause
  6. toast — bread
  7. mug — to rob
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. root — of a plant
  10. root — of a word
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. mug — a cup
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. bat — the animal
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a match

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