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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. row — a line
  3. race — a contest
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. field — for sport
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. field — a subject
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. field — farmland
  11. row — to paddle
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. band — a music group
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. mine — for digging
  16. race — the arms race
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — from a university
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. degree — an amount
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. race — humankind

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