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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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468
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 · stock · pitch · land · capital · cell · mug · pit

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. land — to come down
  4. capital — money
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. mug — a face
  8. stock — goods
  9. pit — in a race
  10. stock — shares
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. mug — a cup
  14. mug — to rob
  15. land — ground
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — a phone
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. pitch — completely

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