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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: rest · trunk · fan · wake · wound · kick · key · field

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rest — what's left
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. field — farmland
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. kick — in football
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. field — for sport
  13. rest — a break
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. field — a subject
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. key — in music
  19. key — for a lock
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. rest — what's left
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. key — the most important part

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