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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 120 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's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wake — a trail
  3. track — a song
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. spell — a short time
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. track — a path
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. bat — the animal
  16. track — to keep track
  17. field — farmland
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. spell — magic
  20. wound — an injury
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. spell — letters
  23. field — for sport
  24. wound — an injury

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