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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 · mine · bat · rash · toast · content · club · pound

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. content — happy
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rash — a series
  5. club — for dancing
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. toast — bread
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. club — for golf
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. club — a group
  18. mine — for digging
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. content — the amount

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