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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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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: rash · chest · present · trunk · nail · game · pitcher · content

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. present — a gift
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. present — the time now
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. present — there
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rash — a series
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. content — the amount
  17. chest — of your body
  18. game — a match
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. content — happy
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. rash — hasty
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. nail — for a hammer

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