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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 116 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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. ground — crushed
  4. shower — to wash
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. craft — boats
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. craft — a skill
  13. ground — the earth
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. ground — a position
  17. key — for a lock
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. key — in music
  21. shower — rain
  22. key — the most important part
  23. hand — help
  24. field — a subject

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