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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 116 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 · march · bat · mug · lie · staff · bound · cold

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. march — music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. bound — certain
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bound — obliged
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. staff — employees
  13. march — the month
  14. bound — tied together
  15. mug — to rob
  16. staff — a stick
  17. mug — a cup
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. march — the month
  22. mug — a face
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — to recline

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