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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. swing — to play on
  3. land — ground
  4. swing — in golf
  5. march — the month
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. stock — goods
  8. march — the month
  9. can — a tin
  10. can — to be able to
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. stock — shares
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. can — a tin
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. land — to come down
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. march — music
  20. land — a country
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. swing — music
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — help

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