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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bound — tied together
  3. field — a subject
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. cell — in biology
  9. field — farmland
  10. pop — to visit
  11. fork — in a road
  12. pop — music
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cell — a phone
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pop — soda
  17. bound — certain
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. bound — obliged
  20. degree — temperature
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. degree — an amount
  24. trunk — of a car

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