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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.

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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. court — of law
  3. cap — a lid
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. march — the month
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. pit — in a race
  10. last — to go on
  11. cap — of ice
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. court — for sport
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. last — final
  17. cold — not warm
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. cold — an illness
  21. court — of a king
  22. last — finally
  23. cap — a hat
  24. pit — a hole

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