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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. fall — to drop
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. field — for sport
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. field — a subject
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — rain
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. fall — the season
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. degree — from a university
  21. fall — to drop
  22. field — farmland
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. racket — for tennis

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