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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. cold — not warm
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. spring — a coil
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. spring — the season
  13. pit — in a race
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. date — the fruit
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. scale — size or range
  22. spring — of water
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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