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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. club — a group
  3. spring — a coil
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. clip — a video
  7. ball — a great time
  8. fine — all right
  9. clip — for paper
  10. court — of a king
  11. court — of law
  12. spring — the season
  13. fine — high quality
  14. spring — of water
  15. club — for dancing
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. court — for sport
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. club — for golf
  23. mine — for digging
  24. ball — a dance

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