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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. plane — a tool
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chest — a box
  15. pit — a hole
  16. land — to come down
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. chair — a leader
  19. land — ground
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. land — a country
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. pit — in a race

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