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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. ground — crushed
  3. clip — for paper
  4. net — in sport
  5. track — a song
  6. ground — a position
  7. staff — employees
  8. net — for catching
  9. pit — a hole
  10. track — to keep track
  11. pit — in a race
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. ground — the earth
  15. staff — a stick
  16. staff — employees
  17. clip — to cut
  18. rash — hasty
  19. clip — a video
  20. rash — a series
  21. net — after costs
  22. track — a path
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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