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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. staff — employees
  3. land — ground
  4. band — a ring
  5. chest — a box
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. bark — to shout
  11. staff — employees
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. band — a music group
  15. staff — a stick
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. land — a country
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. land — to come down
  24. cap — of ice

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