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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. lean — thin
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. swing — to play on
  5. lean — to bend
  6. band — a music group
  7. kid — to tease
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. swing — in golf
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a ring
  15. swing — music
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — a tool
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. mine — for digging
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. kid — child
  24. plane — an aircraft

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