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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: trunk · coach · arm · sharp · bore · shower · bat · bound

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bound — certain
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bore — to drill
  13. shower — rain
  14. bat — the animal
  15. sharp — clever
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — tied together

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