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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: fork · net · lash · kid · bat · trunk · mine · land

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. kid — to tease
  4. land — to come down
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. net — in sport
  14. land — ground
  15. fork — in a road
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. land — a country
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. kid — child
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. fork — a garden tool

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