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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bat — the animal
  4. pop — soda
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. game — a match
  7. court — of a king
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pop — music
  11. hand — in cards
  12. court — for sport
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. court — of law
  18. game — wild animals
  19. hand — help
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. bowl — a football final

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