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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. chest — a box
  3. capital — a city
  4. current — happening now
  5. degree — an amount
  6. chest — of your body
  7. current — of water
  8. cell — in biology
  9. pit — a hole
  10. current — electric
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stock — goods
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. cell — a phone
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. pit — in a race
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. stock — shares
  21. degree — temperature
  22. capital — money
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. capital — a big letter

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