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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. scale — size or range
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. pit — a hole
  7. spring — the season
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bark — to shout
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. court — of law
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. pit — in a race
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. scale — in music
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. spring — of water

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