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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: court · cell · bark · press · chest · trunk · date · stand

  1. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. chest — of your body
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. court — for sport
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. cell — a phone
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. court — of law
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. chest — of your body
  12. date — the fruit
  13. court — of a king
  14. chest — a box
  15. stand — to bear
  16. bark — to shout
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. press — a publisher
  19. press — to push
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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