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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. bore — to tire
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. toast — bread
  5. field — a subject
  6. cap — a lid
  7. field — farmland
  8. net — after costs
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. bore — to drill
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. net — for catching
  17. cap — of ice
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. file — a document
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. cap — a hat
  23. field — for sport
  24. branch — a division

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