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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. court — of a king
  8. degree — temperature
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. court — for sport
  11. fine — high quality
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. field — a subject
  14. court — of law
  15. lean — thin
  16. fine — all right
  17. lean — to bend
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. hand — in cards
  20. degree — from a university
  21. field — for sport
  22. degree — an amount
  23. field — farmland
  24. fine — a penalty

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