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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. drill — army training
  3. bound — obliged
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. pit — a hole
  6. file — a line of people
  7. stock — goods
  8. date — the fruit
  9. press — newspapers
  10. dip — to sink
  11. press — a publisher
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bound — tied together
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. press — to push
  16. bound — certain
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. stock — shares
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. pit — in a race

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