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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — of water
  4. field — farmland
  5. roll — a list
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. field — for sport
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. tear — to rip
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spring — the season
  15. tear — from crying
  16. row — a line
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. row — to paddle
  19. field — a subject
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. roll — a cake
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. roll — on a roll

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