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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. staff — employees
  5. field — a subject
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wake — a trail
  9. field — farmland
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. staff — employees
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. lean — thin
  15. field — for sport
  16. degree — temperature
  17. tube — a container
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — the tool
  20. lean — to bend
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. drill — army training

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