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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pitch — completely
  4. staff — employees
  5. object — to protest
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. court — for sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. object — a thing
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. band — a ring
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. court — of a king
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. staff — employees
  19. object — an aim
  20. staff — a stick
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. spring — of water
  24. court — of law

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