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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  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. fan — to cool the air
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — the time now
  4. game — wild animals
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. ball — a dance
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. game — a match
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. present — there
  12. ball — a great time
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cell — in biology
  18. stem — to come from
  19. cell — a phone
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. bat — the animal
  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