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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. pop — music
  11. court — of law
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. bank — of a river
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. pop — soda
  17. bank — for money
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bank — for money
  20. stem — to come from
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — the amount
  23. pop — to visit
  24. content — happy

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