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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. march — music
  3. pit — a hole
  4. key — in music
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. key — for a lock
  8. bark — to shout
  9. key — the most important part
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. capital — a city
  13. pit — in a race
  14. march — the month
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. march — the month
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. cold — an illness

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