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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. prune — to trim
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. field — for sport
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. degree — from a university
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. present — there
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. stand — to bear
  13. field — farmland
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. vault — a safe
  16. degree — an amount
  17. prune — to trim
  18. degree — temperature
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. present — the time now
  21. field — a subject
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. sharp — clever
  24. sharp — with an edge

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