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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. spell — a short time
  3. cold — not warm
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — to tire
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. spell — letters
  10. roll — a list
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. roll — a cake
  16. snap — to click
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. vault — a safe
  21. cold — an illness
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. field — for sport
  24. spell — magic

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