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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rock — a stone
  3. mine — for digging
  4. staff — employees
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. field — farmland
  11. rock — music
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. field — for sport
  14. staff — employees
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. staff — a stick
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. field — a subject
  22. bat — the animal
  23. cell — a phone
  24. mine — belonging to me

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