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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
468
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 · perch · bat · cold · pop · craft · net · lash

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. perch — the fish
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. pop — music
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. pop — to visit
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. bat — the animal
  17. net — in sport
  18. craft — boats
  19. net — for catching
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. net — after costs
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. pop — soda
  24. craft — a skill

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