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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: bat · tube · land · trunk · stem · coach · wake · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. stem — to come from
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. land — a country
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. land — ground
  9. fall — the season
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. tube — a container
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. land — to come down
  14. tube — the underground
  15. wake — a trail
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bat — the animal
  20. fall — to drop
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. wake — before a funeral

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