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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. field — for sport
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — to come from
  12. row — a line
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. field — a subject
  16. degree — an amount
  17. row — to paddle
  18. prune — to trim
  19. field — farmland
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. prune — to trim
  24. row — a quarrel

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