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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 sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. field — for sport
  2. mine — for digging
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. clip — to cut
  5. field — farmland
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. sharp — clever
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. clip — for paper
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. mate — a friend
  15. tube — a container
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. clip — a video
  19. mate — a partner
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. field — a subject
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. mine — an explosive
  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