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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. court — of law
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. capital — money
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. court — for sport
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. court — of a king
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. band — a ring
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. capital — a city
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. band — a music group

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