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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 124 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. face — part of the head
  8. wound — an injury
  9. face — to point toward
  10. mine — for digging
  11. band — a music group
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. band — a ring
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. face — to confront
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. branch — a division

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