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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 · kick · hand · bound · fine · trunk · game · cold

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. hand — in cards
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. bound — tied together
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — help
  10. bound — obliged
  11. fine — all right
  12. bound — certain
  13. game — wild animals
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. kick — in football
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. fine — high quality
  19. bat — the animal
  20. game — a match
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. cold — an illness
  24. game — a kind of play

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