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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bat — the animal
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. season — of the year
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. root — of a word
  8. staff — employees
  9. mine — for digging
  10. swing — in golf
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. swing — to play on
  16. root — the cause
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. staff — a stick
  19. root — of a plant
  20. snap — to click
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. staff — employees
  23. swing — music
  24. season — in sport

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