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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. field — a subject
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. mate — to breed
  9. plane — a tool
  10. mate — a friend
  11. ball — a dance
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. kick — in football
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mate — a partner
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. field — farmland
  21. ball — a great time
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. field — for sport

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