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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: cold · nail · trunk · fork · rest · cap · perch · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cap — a hat
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. cold — an illness
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cap — a lid
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. rest — what's left
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — in a road
  23. cap — of ice
  24. nail — on a finger

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