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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. kid — child
  7. field — a subject
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. pop — music
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. pop — to visit
  13. pop — soda
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. wax — to grow
  16. field — farmland
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. field — for sport
  22. fork — in a road
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. degree — temperature

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