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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: kid · leaves · bowl · cold · rash · field · trunk · mine

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. field — for sport
  3. rash — a series
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. cold — not warm
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. rash — hasty
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. mine — for digging
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. kid — child
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. cold — an illness

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