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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 116 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. file — a tool
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. bear — the animal
  11. file — a document
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. field — a subject
  15. bear — the animal
  16. fork — in a road
  17. lean — to bend
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. game — wild animals
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. trunk — of a car

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