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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 120 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: rock · bat · pound · file · trunk · foot · capital · pit

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a document
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. capital — money
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. file — a line of people
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. pit — in a race
  18. rock — music
  19. bat — the animal
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rock — a stone
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. pound — to hit hard

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