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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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. march — music
  7. pit — a hole
  8. pitch — completely
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — a series
  11. march — the month
  12. mate — a partner
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mate — to breed
  21. pit — in a race
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. mate — a friend
  24. march — the month

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