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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. date — the fruit
  5. pit — a hole
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pit — in a race
  14. last — to go on
  15. wind — moving air
  16. row — a line
  17. last — finally
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. last — final
  24. jam — a tight spot

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