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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: toast · cell · field · trunk · pitch · kid · key · drill

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. pitch — completely
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. key — the most important part
  5. drill — army training
  6. kid — to tease
  7. drill — the tool
  8. cell — in biology
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. key — for a lock
  11. toast — bread
  12. kid — child
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. field — for sport
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. cell — a phone
  21. drill — a practice
  22. field — a subject
  23. key — in music
  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