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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. present — a gift
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. spell — magic
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. band — a ring
  8. pit — a hole
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bat — the animal
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. present — the time now
  14. pit — in a race
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. spell — letters
  17. band — a music group
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. spell — a short time
  20. present — there
  21. kid — child
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. bat — for baseball

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