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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: trunk · hide · spell · field · rule · cold · kick · bowl

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. spell — magic
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. field — for sport
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spell — a short time
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. spell — letters
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. kick — in football
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. rule — government
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rule — a law
  22. field — a subject
  23. cold — not warm
  24. field — farmland

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