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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. tube — the underground
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. capital — money
  13. scale — size or range
  14. bat — the animal
  15. scale — in music
  16. cell — in biology
  17. tube — a container
  18. capital — a city
  19. wind — moving air
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. chip — for betting
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chip — in a computer

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