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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. spring — the season
  5. kid — to tease
  6. clip — for paper
  7. ball — a dance
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. game — wild animals
  10. spring — of water
  11. rock — music
  12. spring — a coil
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. clip — to cut
  15. kid — child
  16. game — a match
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. rock — a stone
  20. clip — a video
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. pit — a hole
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a round shape

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