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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. game — a match
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. spring — of water
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. spring — a coil
  11. cell — a phone
  12. game — wild animals
  13. clip — a video
  14. spring — the season
  15. cell — in biology
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. stand — to bear
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. plane — a tool
  24. cell — in a prison

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