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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pit — a hole
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. season — in sport
  5. file — a tool
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. branch — a division
  8. file — a line of people
  9. kid — to tease
  10. pit — in a race
  11. season — of the year
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. kid — child
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. file — a document
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. row — to paddle

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