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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. clip — a video
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. cell — a phone
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bulb — for light
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rash — hasty
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. cell — in biology
  18. rash — a series
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. field — farmland
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. bulb — for light
  24. clip — for paper

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