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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: ground · cell · hide · season · trunk · bat · track · march

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. track — a path
  3. cell — in biology
  4. season — of the year
  5. ground — crushed
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. bat — the animal
  8. season — in sport
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. ground — the earth
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cell — a phone
  14. march — the month
  15. track — to keep track
  16. march — the month
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. track — a song
  22. march — music
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — for baseball

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