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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 120 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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. squash — to crush
  3. mate — a partner
  4. pitch — completely
  5. mate — a friend
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. swing — in golf
  11. mine — for digging
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. swing — music
  15. mate — to breed
  16. key — for a lock
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. swing — to play on
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. key — the most important part
  22. key — in music
  23. squash — the sport
  24. mine — an explosive

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