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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 120 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: bowl · swing · cold · board · land · pitch · trunk · file

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. board — a committee
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. swing — to play on
  7. land — to come down
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cold — not warm
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. swing — in golf
  14. pitch — completely
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. land — ground
  17. board — to get on
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. swing — music
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. file — a document

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