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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. content — happy
  4. hand — in cards
  5. spring — the season
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. charge — electricity
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. spring — of water
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. charge — a price
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. face — part of the head
  15. charge — in control
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. face — to confront
  20. face — to point toward
  21. bat — the animal
  22. content — the amount
  23. spring — a coil
  24. hand — help

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