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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  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. nail — on a finger
  2. spell — letters
  3. present — the time now
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. spell — magic
  7. present — a gift
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. date — the fruit
  10. ball — a dance
  11. present — there
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. field — a subject
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. spell — a short time
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. ball — a great time
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  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