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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. court — for sport
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. chest — a box
  5. march — the month
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chest — of your body
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. branch — a division
  12. court — of a king
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. march — the month
  16. squash — the sport
  17. ground — the earth
  18. squash — to crush
  19. chest — of your body
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. pit — in a race
  22. march — music
  23. prune — to trim
  24. court — of law

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