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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 116 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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cold — an illness
  10. file — a tool
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. staff — a stick
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. staff — employees
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. wound — an injury
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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