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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. pitch — completely
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. squash — the sport
  6. pit — a hole
  7. bat — the animal
  8. branch — a division
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. squash — to crush
  17. kid — child
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. pit — in a race
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to click
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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