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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. mark — a trace
  7. sharp — clever
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. cold — not warm
  13. plane — a tool
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. file — a document
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mark — a grade
  18. pass — a permit
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. row — a line
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cold — an illness

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