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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. fall — to drop
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. bat — the animal
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. fall — the season
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fall — to drop
  19. saw — the tool
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. game — a match

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