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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. court — of law
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spring — a coil
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. rush — hurry
  7. scale — in music
  8. game — a match
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. spring — of water
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — a trail
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — for sport
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. spring — the season
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. mouse — the animal

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