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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 · date · lie · cell · bat · squash · rule · stand

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. squash — to crush
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bat — the animal
  8. stand — to bear
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. squash — the sport
  11. date — the fruit
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cell — in biology
  18. rule — a law
  19. cell — a phone
  20. lie — to recline
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. bat — for baseball

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