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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wind — moving air
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. shower — to wash
  7. rock — music
  8. rock — a stone
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. shower — rain
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. field — a subject
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. degree — from a university
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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