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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. march — the month
  7. craft — a skill
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. field — for sport
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. chair — a leader
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. field — a subject
  17. mark — a trace
  18. march — music
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. mark — a grade
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. craft — boats
  23. march — the month
  24. wake — a trail

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