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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: toast · cell · field · trunk · pitch · kid

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. field — for sport
  3. cell — in biology
  4. field — farmland
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. toast — bread
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. kid — to tease
  13. field — a subject
  14. kid — child
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. cell — a phone
  17. pitch — completely
  18. cell — in a prison

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