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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. charge — a price
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. charge — electricity
  6. bat — the animal
  7. charge — in control
  8. bark — to shout
  9. pit — a hole
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. kid — child
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pit — in a race
  20. rash — a series
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. rash — hasty
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. prune — the fruit

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