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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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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: pit · field · pitcher · shower · branch · court · bay · trunk

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. court — of a king
  4. shower — to wash
  5. pit — in a race
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. field — a subject
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. shower — rain
  13. branch — a division
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. field — farmland
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. court — of law
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. field — for sport
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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