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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. field — for sport
  4. last — final
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. last — finally
  7. kid — child
  8. land — a country
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. field — a subject
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. land — ground
  13. fall — the season
  14. field — farmland
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cap — a hat
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. land — to come down
  20. cap — a lid
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. cap — of ice
  24. last — to go on

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