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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. court — for sport
  3. spell — letters
  4. field — a subject
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. field — for sport
  7. spell — a short time
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. spell — magic
  10. pop — music
  11. kick — in football
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bat — the animal
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — a position
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — of law
  20. pop — to visit
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. field — farmland
  24. pop — soda

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