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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: mate · bat · coach · trunk · dip · cabinet · clip · rule

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. mate — to breed
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. mate — a partner
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. mate — a friend
  12. clip — to cut
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rule — a law
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. clip — a video
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. rule — government
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. dip — to sink

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