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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. current — electric
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. ball — a great time
  8. current — of water
  9. saw — the tool
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. field — farmland
  14. ground — crushed
  15. saw — the tool
  16. ground — a position
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. ball — a dance
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. ground — the earth
  24. current — happening now

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