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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 · court · date · craft · snap · spell · pound · field

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  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. pound — for dogs
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. field — farmland
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. spell — letters
  7. snap — to click
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. spell — magic
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — a weight
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — of law
  14. craft — a skill
  15. field — for sport
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. field — a subject
  18. date — the fruit
  19. spell — a short time
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. craft — boats
  22. court — for sport
  23. trunk — of a car
  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