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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. craft — a skill
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. press — a publisher
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. cold — not warm
  7. press — to push
  8. field — farmland
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. field — for sport
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. cold — an illness
  13. swing — in golf
  14. craft — boats
  15. swing — to play on
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. press — newspapers
  18. swing — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. kick — in football
  24. field — a subject

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