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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 · rash · net · kick · content · wake · ball · bat

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — a trail
  8. ball — a great time
  9. rash — hasty
  10. kick — in football
  11. content — happy
  12. net — for catching
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. net — after costs
  15. bat — the animal
  16. net — in sport
  17. content — the amount
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rash — a series
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. ball — a dance

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