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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. rush — hurry
  4. field — farmland
  5. pit — a hole
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. can — to be able to
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. degree — temperature
  13. field — for sport
  14. mine — for digging
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. field — a subject
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. degree — from a university
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. can — a tin
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. pit — in a race
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. degree — an amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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