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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. present — the time now
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stock — goods
  10. squash — to crush
  11. drill — army training
  12. present — a gift
  13. chip — for betting
  14. squash — the sport
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. stock — shares
  18. chip — to eat
  19. present — there
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pit — in a race
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pit — a hole

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