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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. present — a gift
  3. march — music
  4. drill — army training
  5. present — there
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. march — the month
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — for sport
  13. march — the month
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. drill — a practice
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. drill — the tool
  18. chest — a box
  19. pitch — completely
  20. present — the time now
  21. court — of a king
  22. chest — of your body
  23. court — of law
  24. trunk — of a tree

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