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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: lash · cell · rule · trunk · field · swing

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. swing — to play on
  3. field — a subject
  4. swing — in golf
  5. rule — government
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. swing — music
  10. cell — in biology
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. field — farmland
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. rule — a law
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. field — for sport
  18. lash — an eyelash

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