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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cell — in biology
  4. band — a music group
  5. cell — a phone
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. shower — rain
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. field — a subject
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mine — for digging
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — farmland
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. band — a ring
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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