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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. stem — to come from
  9. cold — not warm
  10. last — final
  11. last — to go on
  12. pit — a hole
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. last — finally
  18. stem — of a plant

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