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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: sharp · bat · vault · swing · pop · cold · trunk · bark

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. sharp — clever
  6. pop — music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pop — to visit
  10. vault — a safe
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. cold — not warm
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. pop — soda
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bark — to shout
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. swing — music

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