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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. spell — letters
  3. band — a music group
  4. kid — child
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — a series
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — happy
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. deal — to handle
  16. spell — magic
  17. band — a ring
  18. spell — a short time
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. rash — hasty
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. trunk — of a tree

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