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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. saw — the tool
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. swing — to play on
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — low music
  11. cap — a lid
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. cap — of ice
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. branch — a division
  18. cap — a hat
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. branch — of a bank

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