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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — a hole
  6. roll — a list
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. chest — a box
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — crushed
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — the earth
  17. roll — a cake
  18. pit — in a race

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