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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bass — low music
  4. fork — in a road
  5. pit — in a race
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. squash — the sport
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — the fish
  11. content — happy
  12. tear — from crying
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. chest — of your body
  16. content — the amount
  17. tear — from crying
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. chest — a box
  22. tear — to rip
  23. squash — to crush
  24. bass — the instrument

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