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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. charge — electricity
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. charge — a price
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pit — a hole
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rock — music
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. spell — a short time
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. branch — a division
  16. pit — in a race
  17. spell — letters
  18. rock — a stone
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. spell — magic
  22. cold — not warm
  23. charge — in control
  24. branch — of a bank

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