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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. capital — a city
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. capital — money
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. field — farmland
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. drill — army training
  11. field — a subject
  12. cue — for pool
  13. stock — shares
  14. drill — a practice
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. game — a match
  18. cue — a signal
  19. stock — goods
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cue — a hint
  23. field — for sport
  24. game — wild animals

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