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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 · bore · court · kick · spell · wind · firm · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  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. date — on the calendar
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. firm — decided
  4. court — of a king
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. spell — letters
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. court — for sport
  10. firm — a company
  11. spell — a short time
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bore — to drill
  14. date — the fruit
  15. court — of law
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bore — to tire
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. firm — steady
  20. spell — magic
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. trunk — of a car
  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