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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. 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. bat — in an idiom
  3. spring — the season
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bass — low music
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. charge — in control
  8. charge — electricity
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. bank — for money
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bank — for money
  13. spring — of water
  14. hand — help
  15. bank — of a river
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. charge — a price
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bat — the animal
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. 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