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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: season · trunk · bore · pit · chest · court · cell · ground

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bore — to tire
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — of the year
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. cell — a phone
  12. pit — in a race
  13. season — in sport
  14. ground — a position
  15. pit — a hole
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bore — to drill
  18. court — of a king
  19. ground — crushed
  20. court — for sport
  21. ground — the earth
  22. chest — a box
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. chest — of your body

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