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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. drill — the tool
  3. club — for dancing
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. mine — for digging
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. drill — army training
  9. club — a group
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. hand — in cards
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. wake — a trail
  19. drill — a practice
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. club — for golf
  24. mine — an explosive

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