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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. shower — rain
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. roll — a cake
  5. fall — to drop
  6. field — for sport
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. chair — a leader
  11. shower — to wash
  12. field — farmland
  13. chest — of your body
  14. roll — a list
  15. chest — of your body
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. pit — a hole
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. chest — a box
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. field — a subject
  24. nail — for a hammer

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