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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: tube · chest · season · hand · land · bark · spring · trunk

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. land — a country
  3. chest — of your body
  4. season — in sport
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. spring — a coil
  7. chest — a box
  8. land — ground
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bark — to shout
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. tube — a container
  14. land — to come down
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. hand — help
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. spring — of water
  20. season — of the year
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. tube — the underground
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spring — the season

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