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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: lean · spell · land · trunk · bat · chest · fork · nail

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. land — a country
  3. lean — thin
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. bat — the animal
  6. spell — letters
  7. chest — of your body
  8. spell — a short time
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. chest — a box
  15. land — ground
  16. fork — in a road
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. spell — magic
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. chest — of your body
  23. land — to come down
  24. nail — for a hammer

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