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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. field — for sport
  5. fall — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. kid — to tease
  8. field — a subject
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. fall — to drop
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. prune — to trim
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. foot — a measure
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. field — farmland
  19. kid — child
  20. kick — in football
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. patient — a sick person

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