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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cold — not warm
  3. plane — a tool
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. rock — a stone
  9. staff — employees
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. pit — in a race
  13. fine — all right
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. fine — high quality
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. bat — the animal
  18. staff — a stick
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. rock — music
  22. staff — employees
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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