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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. field — a subject
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. degree — an amount
  5. perch — the fish
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. field — farmland
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — to recline
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. degree — from a university
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. fork — in a road
  19. branch — a division
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. degree — temperature
  22. field — for sport
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. coach — a trainer

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