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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cold — an illness
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. pit — in a race
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. drill — a practice
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. land — ground
  15. cold — not warm
  16. drill — the tool
  17. pit — a hole
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. land — a country
  21. drill — army training
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. land — to come down

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