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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 · bat · present · bear · wind · date · cell · trunk

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. present — the time now
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. present — there
  6. bear — the animal
  7. lean — thin
  8. wind — moving air
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. date — the fruit
  19. lean — to bend
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cell — a phone
  24. present — a gift

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