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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. snap — to click
  3. field — farmland
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — to trim
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. field — a subject
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. rash — hasty
  18. bass — the fish
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rash — a series
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bass — low music
  24. field — for sport

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