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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. ground — a position
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. ground — crushed
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — a trace
  12. cold — an illness
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — a subject
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. cold — not warm

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