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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. 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. bat — for baseball
  2. drill — the tool
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. sharp — clever
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. face — part of the head
  8. cell — in biology
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bat — the animal
  13. plane — a tool
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. face — to point toward
  18. drill — a practice
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. face — to confront
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. 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