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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: bank · mine · drill · game · court · trunk · roll · hand

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bank — of a river
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bank — for money
  5. hand — help
  6. game — a match
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. court — of law
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. court — for sport
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. hand — in cards
  14. mine — for digging
  15. drill — the tool
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. court — of a king
  19. drill — a practice
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. drill — army training
  22. bank — for money
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. roll — a cake

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