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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. drill — army training
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pit — in a race
  10. chest — a box
  11. drill — the tool
  12. pit — a hole
  13. chest — of your body
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. snap — to click
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. band — a ring
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. date — the fruit
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — in music
  23. chest — of your body
  24. scale — size or range

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