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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 120 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. pit — in a race
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. mate — a partner
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. dip — to sink
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pit — a hole
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. snap — to click
  14. net — in sport
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. mate — to breed
  19. net — for catching
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. net — after costs
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — a phone
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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