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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 116 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. band — a ring
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. chair — a leader
  6. spring — a coil
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. spring — the season
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mate — a partner
  12. band — a music group
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. mate — a friend
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. cell — in biology
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. fork — in a road
  24. spring — of water

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