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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wind — moving air
  3. march — the month
  4. spell — letters
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — wild animals
  12. spell — a short time
  13. board — to get on
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. spell — magic
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. game — a match
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. board — a committee
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. trunk — of a tree

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