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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cap — of ice
  5. kid — to tease
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. field — a subject
  8. tube — a container
  9. field — farmland
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cap — a lid
  13. wound — an injury
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. field — for sport
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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