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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. cap — a hat
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. face — to confront
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cap — a lid
  9. face — part of the head
  10. content — happy
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cap — of ice
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. file — a tool
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — completely
  20. file — a document
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — a break
  23. content — the amount
  24. face — to point toward

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