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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: wind · trunk · date · kid · pit · bat · bay · fine

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. date — the fruit
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pit — in a race
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fine — all right
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. fine — high quality
  23. kid — child
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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