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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. land — ground
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. clip — for paper
  6. stock — shares
  7. bat — the animal
  8. land — a country
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. suit — clothes
  11. suit — to fit
  12. clip — to cut
  13. suit — in cards
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. clip — a video
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. stock — goods
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. land — to come down
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. fan — a supporter

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