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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. charge — a price
  3. pit — in a race
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. pit — a hole
  7. charge — electricity
  8. capital — a city
  9. clip — for paper
  10. firm — steady
  11. firm — a company
  12. drill — army training
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. firm — decided
  16. charge — in control
  17. clip — a video
  18. capital — money
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. clip — to cut
  21. drill — the tool
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. drill — a practice
  24. ground — the earth

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