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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 · firm · wave · field · rest · deal · clip · ball

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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 a car
  2. firm — decided
  3. field — a subject
  4. firm — steady
  5. rest — a break
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. deal — to handle
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. rest — what's left
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. clip — to cut
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. ball — a great time
  19. firm — a company
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  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