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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: cell · fall · trunk · press · drill · bowl · stock · bat

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. bat — the animal
  4. press — a publisher
  5. fall — to drop
  6. press — to push
  7. fall — the season
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stock — shares
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. stock — goods
  18. press — newspapers
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — army training
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. bat — for baseball

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