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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. spring — a coil
  3. band — a ring
  4. sharp — clever
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. wind — moving air
  7. band — a music group
  8. spring — of water
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. fork — in a road
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. ball — a dance
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. stand — to bear
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a great time
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. wind — moving air
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. spring — the season

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