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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. march — the month
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. chest — of your body
  8. court — of a king
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. rash — hasty
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. file — a line of people
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. march — the month
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. march — music
  21. rash — a series
  22. file — a document
  23. deal — to handle
  24. pitch — completely

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