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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. present — the time now
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. file — a line of people
  7. track — a song
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. file — a tool
  10. present — a gift
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. lean — to bend
  13. file — a document
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. track — a path
  16. branch — a division
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. lean — thin
  19. bat — the animal
  20. present — there
  21. date — the fruit
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. track — to keep track
  24. branch — of a tree

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