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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. can — to be able to
  4. cold — not warm
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. capital — money
  7. pit — in a race
  8. present — the time now
  9. can — a tin
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. present — a gift
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. can — a tin
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pit — a hole
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. present — there
  19. rush — hurry
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. wake — a trail
  22. plane — a tool
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. capital — a city

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