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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. stock — goods
  6. dip — to sink
  7. lean — thin
  8. degree — from a university
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. pit — a hole
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. bat — the animal
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. stock — shares
  18. lean — to bend
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pit — in a race
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. trunk — of a tree

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