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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — a hat
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. cap — of ice
  9. row — to paddle
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. plane — a tool
  14. race — a contest
  15. wound — an injury
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. row — a line
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. pit — in a race
  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