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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. prune — to trim
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — a subject
  6. file — a document
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. prune — to trim
  10. file — a tool
  11. pit — a hole
  12. degree — temperature
  13. season — in sport
  14. degree — an amount
  15. season — of the year
  16. field — for sport
  17. court — for sport
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. court — of law
  20. degree — from a university
  21. court — of a king
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. file — a line of people
  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