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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. branch — a division
  3. field — farmland
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. race — the arms race
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. race — a contest
  8. wound — an injury
  9. court — for sport
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. field — for sport
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. saw — the tool
  16. race — humankind
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. degree — temperature
  21. field — a subject
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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