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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. season — of the year
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. shower — to wash
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. court — for sport
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. wound — an injury
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. wound — an injury
  15. chip — to eat
  16. season — in sport
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. court — of law
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chip — for betting
  22. shower — rain
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. court — of a king

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