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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 116 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. spell — letters
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. spell — magic
  5. tear — from crying
  6. drill — army training
  7. prune — to trim
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. spell — a short time
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pit — in a race
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. capital — a city
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. tear — to rip
  19. capital — money
  20. tear — from crying
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pit — a hole
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bowl — a dish

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