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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. kid — to tease
  3. fall — to drop
  4. court — of law
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. date — the fruit
  10. court — for sport
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. bass — low music
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bass — the fish
  18. capital — money
  19. kid — child
  20. court — of a king
  21. deal — to handle
  22. fall — the season
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. capital — a city

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