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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. land — to come down
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. tube — a container
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. cell — a phone
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cell — in biology
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. land — a country
  18. land — ground
  19. tube — the underground
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. game — a match
  22. hand — help
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. game — wild animals

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