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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. bore — to tire
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. swing — to play on
  5. court — of a king
  6. fall — to drop
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. swing — in golf
  9. swing — music
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. wind — moving air
  13. game — a match
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bore — to drill
  16. wind — moving air
  17. field — a subject
  18. court — of law
  19. court — for sport
  20. fall — to drop
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. game — wild animals
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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