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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. spring — a coil
  4. swing — music
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. roll — a cake
  10. roll — a list
  11. stand — to bear
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. game — a match
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — to play on
  20. game — wild animals
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. spring — of water
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. spring — the season

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