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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pit — a hole
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. present — there
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rash — a series
  14. court — of a king
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. present — the time now
  18. rash — hasty
  19. pit — in a race
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — 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