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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: bay · fall · mug · trunk · land · wound · kick · chest

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. mug — a cup
  3. mug — a face
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chest — of your body
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chest — a box
  14. land — ground
  15. land — a country
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. chest — of your body
  19. land — to come down
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. fall — the season
  22. mug — to rob
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. kick — in football

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