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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. cell — a phone
  3. season — of the year
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. land — ground
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. field — a subject
  8. cell — in biology
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. field — for sport
  13. land — a country
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. mine — for digging
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. deal — to handle
  20. field — farmland
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. bark — to shout
  24. land — to come down

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