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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ball — a dance
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. chest — of your body
  8. branch — a division
  9. staff — a stick
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. staff — employees
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bat — the animal
  19. chest — a box
  20. staff — employees
  21. fork — in a road
  22. ball — a great time
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. bat — for baseball

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