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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: temple · ground · trunk · hand · kid · mine · court · bass

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. ground — crushed
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. court — of a king
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. court — of law
  9. ground — the earth
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. mine — for digging
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. kid — to tease
  17. hand — help
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. ground — a position
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. kid — child
  22. court — for sport
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. bass — the fish

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