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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 · pit · land · hide · bat · kick · rash · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. land — a country
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. rash — hasty
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. bat — the animal
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — in football
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. land — ground
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pit — a hole
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. pit — in a race
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. land — to come down

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