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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. game — a match
  3. bear — the animal
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bat — the animal
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — wild animals
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. staff — employees
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. staff — a stick

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