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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. last — finally
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. last — final
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — in a race
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — a video
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. stand — to bear
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. clip — to cut
  22. last — to go on
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. cold — the Cold War

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