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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: fall · bat · lash · sharp · cell · trunk · squash · date

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. date — the fruit
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. fall — to drop
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bat — the animal
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. sharp — clever
  14. squash — the sport
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. fall — the season
  18. cell — in biology
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. squash — to crush

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