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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 · game · lash · kick · cold · mate · bound · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. game — wild animals
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. bound — tied together
  5. mate — to breed
  6. game — a match
  7. kick — in football
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. mate — a partner
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mate — a friend
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bound — obliged
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bound — certain

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