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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. tube — the underground
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. tube — a container
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. plane — a tool
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. field — a subject
  13. kick — in football
  14. land — to come down
  15. fine — high quality
  16. wound — an injury
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. fine — all right
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. field — farmland
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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