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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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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: court · field · trunk · kid · spring · jam · wind · lie

  1. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. wind — moving air
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. spring — of water
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wind — moving air
  8. field — a subject
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. lie — to recline
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. court — of a king
  15. kid — child
  16. spring — the season
  17. kid — to tease
  18. field — farmland
  19. court — of law
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. field — for sport
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. court — for sport

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