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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: trunk · mine · cap · swing · race · nail · game · cell

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. game — a match
  3. swing — music
  4. cap — of ice
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cell — in biology
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. race — the arms race
  18. mine — for digging
  19. swing — to play on
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. swing — in golf
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. cell — a phone

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