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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. field — farmland
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. track — a song
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. track — a path
  9. degree — an amount
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. track — to keep track
  12. field — for sport
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. degree — temperature
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. degree — from a university
  21. field — a subject
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. date — the fruit
  24. wave — of the sea

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