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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. spring — of water
  3. pop — music
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. clip — to cut
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. rest — what's left
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. pop — soda
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. field — for sport
  12. pass — a permit
  13. rest — a break
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. clip — a video
  17. field — a subject
  18. pop — to visit
  19. rest — what's left
  20. clip — for paper
  21. spring — the season
  22. field — farmland
  23. spring — a coil
  24. sharp — clever

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