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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 · cold · game · leaves · kid · cap · net · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cell — in biology
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kid — child
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. net — after costs
  12. game — a match
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. net — for catching
  17. cap — a hat
  18. net — in sport
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. cold — an illness
  22. kid — to tease
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. cap — of ice

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