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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. roll — a list
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. field — a subject
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. field — for sport
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. ground — crushed
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. roll — a cake
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. field — farmland
  19. cap — a hat
  20. ground — a position
  21. cap — a lid
  22. ground — the earth
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cap — of ice

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