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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: ball · root · drill · hand · club · bat · last · trunk

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. last — to go on
  5. hand — in cards
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. hand — help
  8. club — for golf
  9. root — the cause
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. club — a group
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. root — of a plant
  15. last — final
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. club — for dancing
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. drill — army training
  22. last — finally
  23. ball — a dance
  24. root — of a word

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