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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 · field · wound · perch · prune · ground · kid · key

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. key — for a lock
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. key — the most important part
  8. field — farmland
  9. kid — to tease
  10. perch — the fish
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. prune — to trim
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. ground — crushed
  15. prune — to trim
  16. ground — the earth
  17. kid — child
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. ground — a position
  21. key — in music
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. field — a subject

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