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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. face — to confront
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. field — farmland
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. kid — to tease
  8. swing — in golf
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. swing — music
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. club — for dancing
  13. club — a group
  14. saw — the tool
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. face — to point toward
  17. swing — to play on
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. field — for sport
  21. saw — the tool
  22. field — a subject
  23. club — for golf
  24. face — part of the head

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