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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 120 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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. field — a subject
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. field — for sport
  5. clip — a video
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pop — music
  8. fine — high quality
  9. tear — from crying
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — in a road
  15. stem — to come from
  16. clip — for paper
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fine — all right
  19. pop — soda
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pop — to visit
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. field — farmland

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