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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. key — for a lock
  3. club — for dancing
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. cap — a lid
  6. march — music
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. ball — a great time
  9. key — the most important part
  10. cap — a hat
  11. club — for golf
  12. key — in music
  13. mine — for digging
  14. file — a tool
  15. club — a group
  16. march — the month
  17. file — a line of people
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. march — the month
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. cap — of ice
  22. file — a document
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. ball — a dance

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