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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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 fruit stone
  2. cold — not warm
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. can — a tin
  5. charge — a price
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. fall — the season
  8. can — to be able to
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. can — a tin
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fall — to drop
  14. file — a document
  15. shower — rain
  16. pit — a hole
  17. charge — electricity
  18. pit — in a race
  19. file — a tool
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cold — an illness
  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