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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. present — a gift
  5. field — farmland
  6. root — of a plant
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bat — the animal
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. present — the time now
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. present — there
  13. field — for sport
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. field — a subject
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. kid — child
  18. root — the cause
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. root — of a word
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. dip — to sink

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