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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 120 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  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. field — a subject
  2. race — humankind
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. band — a music group
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. race — the arms race
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. race — a contest
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. band — a ring
  21. shower — rain
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. wake — a trail
  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