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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. kid — to tease
  3. swing — to play on
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. rock — music
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. rock — a stone
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. kid — child
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. bat — the animal
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. swing — in golf
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. swing — music
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a music group

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