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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 124 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bear — the animal
  4. land — a country
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fork — in a road
  10. bat — the animal
  11. land — ground
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — a tool
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bear — the animal
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. land — to come down
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. wound — an injury

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