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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. file — a tool
  4. pit — a hole
  5. file — a document
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rash — hasty
  8. stock — goods
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — to tease
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. stock — shares
  14. row — a line
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — completely
  17. rash — a series
  18. vault — a safe
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. file — a line of people
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. pit — in a race
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. row — to paddle

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