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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: trunk · calf · bass · stand · pitcher · game · field · wound

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. game — a match
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — farmland
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. bass — low music
  14. wound — an injury
  15. game — wild animals
  16. stand — to bear
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bass — the fish
  20. field — for sport
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. field — a subject
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. calf — a young animal

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