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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bat — the animal
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. rule — government
  8. rule — a law
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. band — a music group
  11. season — of the year
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. rock — a stone
  15. rock — music
  16. mine — for digging
  17. band — a ring
  18. season — in sport
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. capital — a city
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. capital — money
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. band — a rubber band

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