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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bulb — for light
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. stem — to come from
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bat — the animal
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. perch — the fish
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. game — a match
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. march — music
  18. hand — help
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. march — the month
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. march — the month
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — wild animals

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