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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 116 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: hand · game · swing · bat · rash · trunk · leaves · cell

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. rash — a series
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cell — in biology
  10. hand — in cards
  11. swing — music
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. rash — hasty
  15. swing — to play on
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cell — a phone
  20. hand — help
  21. game — a match
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bat — the animal

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