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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: rest · foot · staff · fine · trunk · spring · cold · kid

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. spring — the season
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. cold — an illness
  8. staff — employees
  9. rest — what's left
  10. staff — employees
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. kid — child
  14. cold — not warm
  15. kid — to tease
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. fine — high quality
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — a coil
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. fine — all right
  22. staff — a stick
  23. foot — a measure
  24. rest — what's left

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