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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. board — to get on
  5. board — a committee
  6. ground — the earth
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bat — the animal
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. ground — crushed
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — money
  17. field — for sport
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. ground — a position
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. trunk — of a tree

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