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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: present · row · straw · fan · date · field · ball · trunk

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. field — farmland
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. present — the time now
  9. date — the fruit
  10. row — a line
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. present — a gift
  16. ball — a great time
  17. field — for sport
  18. ball — a dance
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. present — there
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. row — to paddle
  24. trunk — of a tree

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