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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. cold — an illness
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. pit — a hole
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. present — there
  12. present — the time now
  13. branch — a division
  14. cold — not warm
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. stock — goods
  19. game — wild animals
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. present — a gift
  22. game — a match
  23. stock — shares
  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