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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: trunk · track · bat · board · kid · sharp · stock · jam

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. board — a committee
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. track — to keep track
  7. sharp — clever
  8. board — to get on
  9. track — a path
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. track — a song
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — goods
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. kid — child

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