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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. field — farmland
  5. cold — not warm
  6. field — for sport
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. drill — the tool
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. cue — for pool
  11. drill — a practice
  12. field — a subject
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cold — an illness
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. drill — army training
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. cue — a signal
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mouse — for a computer

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