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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: lean · cell · mate · mine · kid · ground · bark · trunk

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cell — a phone
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cell — in biology
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. mate — to breed
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. kid — to tease
  15. ground — the earth
  16. lean — to bend
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — crushed
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — thin
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. mate — a partner

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