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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. pit — in a race
  3. content — the amount
  4. net — in sport
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. field — for sport
  7. rush — hurry
  8. capital — a city
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. net — after costs
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. field — farmland
  13. capital — money
  14. row — to paddle
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pit — a hole
  19. field — a subject
  20. net — for catching
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. content — happy
  24. row — a line

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