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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: hide · bat · field · cap · trunk · wind · rest · current

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. field — a subject
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. current — of water
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. cap — a hat
  14. rest — a break
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wind — moving air
  18. current — electric
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. current — happening now

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