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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: race · trunk · sharp · hand · field · bore · date · stem

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. field — farmland
  3. date — the fruit
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. hand — help
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bore — to tire
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. hand — in cards
  13. race — humankind
  14. field — for sport
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — a contest
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — clever
  19. stem — to come from
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. field — a subject
  22. bore — to drill
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bore — gave birth

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