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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 · staff · land · file · ground · bat · content · kid

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. content — the amount
  3. land — to come down
  4. kid — child
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. file — a document
  7. land — a country
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. content — happy
  12. staff — employees
  13. ground — the earth
  14. land — ground
  15. staff — a stick
  16. file — a tool
  17. ground — a position
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. file — a line of people
  20. ground — crushed
  21. staff — employees
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. bat — the animal
  24. trunk — of a car

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