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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. game — wild animals
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. march — music
  8. pit — a hole
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. game — a match
  12. drill — a practice
  13. track — to keep track
  14. staff — employees
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. drill — the tool
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. pit — in a race
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. track — a path
  22. track — a song
  23. drill — army training
  24. staff — a stick

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