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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. pit — in a race
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. net — for catching
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. degree — from a university
  9. net — after costs
  10. cell — in biology
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. degree — an amount
  14. band — a ring
  15. degree — temperature
  16. band — a music group
  17. land — to come down
  18. net — in sport
  19. pit — a hole
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. cell — a phone
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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