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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 116 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. game — a match
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. present — the time now
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. present — there
  9. present — a gift
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. can — a tin
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. kid — child
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — to be able to
  23. stem — to come from
  24. bat — for baseball

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