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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. field — for sport
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. field — farmland
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. court — of a king
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. clip — for paper
  10. court — for sport
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. clip — a video
  13. wound — an injury
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. field — a subject
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. court — of law

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