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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. field — a subject
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. net — after costs
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. field — for sport
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bark — to shout
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — in sport
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. field — farmland

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