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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: bark · rush · trunk · jam · cell · spring · game · bear

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. spring — a coil
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. spring — the season
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bark — to shout
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. game — a match
  14. bear — the animal
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. bear — the animal
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. rush — hurry
  22. game — wild animals
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. cell — in biology

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