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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: ball · row · cell · stand · toast · clip · trunk · scale

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. row — to paddle
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. ball — a dance
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cell — in biology
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. ball — a great time
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. stand — to bear
  19. row — a line
  20. clip — to cut
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. clip — a video
  24. cell — a phone

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