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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. track — a path
  3. kid — child
  4. ground — a position
  5. track — to keep track
  6. board — a committee
  7. kid — to tease
  8. degree — an amount
  9. spring — the season
  10. spell — letters
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. track — a song
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. board — to get on
  16. ground — crushed
  17. degree — temperature
  18. spell — magic
  19. pit — in a race
  20. degree — from a university
  21. ground — the earth
  22. spell — a short time
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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