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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. clip — for paper
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — in a race
  6. charge — electricity
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. cold — an illness
  9. clip — a video
  10. season — in sport
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. clip — to cut
  18. season — of the year
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. net — after costs
  21. charge — a price
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. foot — a measure
  24. charge — in control

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