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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. season — in sport
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. field — for sport
  6. season — of the year
  7. squash — the sport
  8. spring — the season
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pit — in a race
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bulb — for light
  15. pit — a hole
  16. spring — of water
  17. field — farmland
  18. bulb — for light
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. spring — a coil
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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