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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. rash — a series
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rash — hasty
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. swing — music
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. swing — to play on
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. field — a subject
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. swing — in golf
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. field — farmland
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. shower — to wash
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. field — for sport
  24. shower — rain

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