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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bat — the animal
  6. field — farmland
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. field — for sport
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. court — of law
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. fork — in a road
  16. court — of a king
  17. root — of a word
  18. court — for sport
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. root — the cause
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. root — of a plant

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