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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. game — a match
  3. object — to protest
  4. bass — the fish
  5. game — wild animals
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bass — low music
  8. band — a music group
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. cold — an illness
  12. prune — to trim
  13. object — an aim
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. object — a thing
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. band — a ring
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. pit — a hole
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cold — not warm
  23. tear — from crying
  24. prune — to trim

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