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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: field · cold · bound · trunk · rash · lash · net · mine

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. net — after costs
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rash — a series
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bound — tied together
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. field — farmland
  17. net — for catching
  18. rash — hasty
  19. net — in sport
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — obliged
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. field — a subject
  24. cold — not warm

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