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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fall — the season
  3. pit — in a race
  4. chest — a box
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. fall — to drop
  9. file — a tool
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pit — a hole
  12. current — happening now
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fall — to drop
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. current — electric
  17. current — of water
  18. mine — for digging
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. file — a document
  24. chest — of your body

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