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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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Word bank
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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. pit — a hole
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. degree — an amount
  6. court — for sport
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. fork — in a road
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. dip — to sink
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. court — of law
  19. court — of a king
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. snap — to click
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. pit — in a race

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