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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 120 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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — magic
  4. tube — the underground
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. tube — a container
  7. fall — to drop
  8. club — for dancing
  9. hand — help
  10. club — a group
  11. hand — in cards
  12. fall — the season
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pit — in a race
  17. bat — the animal
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. club — for golf
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. fall — to drop
  24. spell — letters

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