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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. field — farmland
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. field — a subject
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. fall — to drop
  9. key — for a lock
  10. file — a document
  11. key — the most important part
  12. file — a line of people
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. key — in music
  17. field — for sport
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. file — a tool
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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