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

Word bank: trunk · row · cold · pit · arm · court · saw · toast

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. row — to paddle
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. court — of a king
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. pit — in a race
  9. row — a line
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. court — for sport
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. saw — the tool
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. court — of law
  19. saw — the tool
  20. toast — bread
  21. pit — a hole
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. cold — an illness

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