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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. band — a ring
  3. face — to point toward
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. pit — a hole
  7. track — a path
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. wax — to grow
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. band — a music group
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. face — to confront
  14. pit — in a race
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. track — to keep track
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. face — part of the head
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. track — a song
  24. jam — in traffic

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