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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 120 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: saw · trunk · mine · pop · leaves · capital · dip · bat

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. capital — a city
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. saw — the tool
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. mine — for digging
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. dip — to sink
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pop — music
  17. pop — soda
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bat — the animal
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. saw — the tool

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