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

Word bank: trunk · bat · deal · file · bound · mark · bark · mine

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. deal — to handle
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bound — tied together
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. file — a tool
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bound — certain
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. mark — a trace
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mark — a grade

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