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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. rock — a stone
  6. field — farmland
  7. sharp — clever
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — for sport
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. rock — music
  14. field — a subject
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. shower — rain
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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