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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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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: kick · wind · rest · swing · trunk · cue · land · foot

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. foot — a measure
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rest — what's left
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. land — to come down
  8. cue — a hint
  9. rest — a break
  10. swing — to play on
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cue — a signal
  14. land — a country
  15. kick — in football
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. rest — what's left
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cue — for pool
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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