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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. net — in sport
  4. field — for sport
  5. kick — in football
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. net — for catching
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. swing — music
  14. net — after costs
  15. lie — to recline
  16. field — farmland
  17. mine — for digging
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. swing — in golf
  22. field — a subject
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. lie — an untruth

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