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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 116 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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. file — a line of people
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. court — of a king
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. kick — in football
  9. court — for sport
  10. ball — a dance
  11. file — a document
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. kid — child
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. court — of law
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. file — a tool
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wake — a trail
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wake — before a funeral

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