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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. plane — a tool
  4. field — a subject
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. field — for sport
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. field — farmland
  14. land — ground
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wind — moving air
  17. land — to come down
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. fork — in a road
  20. snap — to click
  21. wind — moving air
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. land — a country
  24. trunk — of a tree

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