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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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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: cold · nail · bat · chest · bowl · trunk · board · wind

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chest — a box
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. board — to get on
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. board — a committee
  23. cold — not warm
  24. board — a flat piece

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