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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cell — in biology
  5. rest — what's left
  6. craft — boats
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. rest — a break
  9. ball — a great time
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cell — a phone
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. craft — a skill
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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