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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cell — a phone
  8. degree — from a university
  9. hand — help
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. degree — an amount
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. branch — a division
  15. cell — in biology
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. degree — temperature
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. hand — in cards

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