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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  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. club — for golf
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chest — a box
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. roll — a list
  7. chest — of your body
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. field — for sport
  10. wound — an injury
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. field — farmland
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. roll — a cake
  15. club — a group
  16. club — for dancing
  17. foot — a measure
  18. chest — of your body
  19. mark — a grade
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. field — a subject
  22. mark — a trace
  23. foot — part of the body
  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