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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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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. land — to come down
  4. mate — to breed
  5. court — of law
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. court — for sport
  9. mate — a partner
  10. craft — a skill
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. land — a country
  13. race — a contest
  14. perch — the fish
  15. craft — boats
  16. pitch — completely
  17. mate — a friend
  18. race — the arms race
  19. court — of a king
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. race — humankind
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. craft — a handicraft

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