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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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Word bank
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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 · chest · coach · pitch · foot · kick · file · land

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pitch — completely
  10. chest — a box
  11. file — a tool
  12. kick — in football
  13. chest — of your body
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. foot — a measure
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. file — a document
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. land — a country
  24. kick — a thrill

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