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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 · chair · wind · season · bark · stick · field · nail

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  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. trunk — of an elephant
  2. field — a subject
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wind — moving air
  6. chair — a leader
  7. season — in sport
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. field — for sport
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. field — farmland
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. wind — moving air
  19. season — of the year
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. season — to add flavour
  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