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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: trunk · hand · net · season · fine · track · cell · file

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. track — a song
  3. fine — all right
  4. cell — in biology
  5. net — for catching
  6. fine — high quality
  7. season — in sport
  8. net — in sport
  9. file — a tool
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. file — a line of people
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. season — of the year
  17. track — to keep track
  18. net — after costs
  19. track — a path
  20. hand — in cards
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. file — a document
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. trunk — of a car

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