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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 120 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. tube — the underground
  4. last — to go on
  5. pit — a hole
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. pit — in a race
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. clip — for paper
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. tube — a container
  14. last — finally
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. last — final

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