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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: bay · swing · trunk · foot · bat · cold · branch · current

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. foot — a measure
  5. current — happening now
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — the animal
  9. swing — music
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. branch — a division
  12. cold — not warm
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. swing — to play on
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. current — of water
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. current — electric
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. trunk — of a car

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