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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: court · chest · cue · ruler · trunk · last · mine · straw

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. last — to go on
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. cue — for pool
  5. cue — a signal
  6. last — finally
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. mine — for digging
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. chest — a box
  13. cue — a hint
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. last — final
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. chest — of your body
  18. court — of a king
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. court — of law
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. court — for sport
  24. trunk — of a tree

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