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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: field · court · arm · date · pitcher · trunk · march · key

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. march — music
  4. date — the fruit
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. field — farmland
  7. court — for sport
  8. field — for sport
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. key — in music
  11. key — the most important part
  12. court — of law
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. court — of a king
  15. key — for a lock
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. field — a subject
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. march — the month
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of a car

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