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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. game — a match
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. rash — a series
  8. spell — letters
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. press — to push
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. spell — magic
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. press — a publisher
  15. rash — hasty
  16. field — for sport
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. press — newspapers
  20. spell — a short time
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. trunk — of a tree

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