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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 always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. pit — in a race
  3. court — for sport
  4. degree — an amount
  5. tube — a container
  6. spring — the season
  7. bound — tied together
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. court — of law
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bound — certain
  12. spring — of water
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. pit — a hole
  16. spring — a coil
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. court — of a king
  21. degree — from a university
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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