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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 have a ________________ here.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. rest — a break
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. bat — the animal
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spell — magic
  11. content — the amount
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. spell — letters
  14. rush — hurry
  15. branch — a division
  16. spell — a short time
  17. rest — what's left
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rest — what's left
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. content — happy

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