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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. club — for golf
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cap — of ice
  5. race — humankind
  6. club — for dancing
  7. file — a line of people
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. pit — in a race
  10. club — a group
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. cap — a lid
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. race — a contest
  15. toast — bread
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pit — a hole
  19. file — a tool
  20. branch — a division
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bat — the animal
  23. file — a document
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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