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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. rock — music
  3. bat — the animal
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. land — ground
  8. rock — a stone
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. saw — the tool
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. lie — to recline
  21. land — a country
  22. land — to come down
  23. saw — the tool
  24. rock — to move gently

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