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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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Word bank
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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 · bat · bowl · mine · net · lie · cell · ground

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. net — for catching
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. ground — a position
  9. cell — in biology
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. net — after costs
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. net — in sport
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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