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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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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. band — a ring
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chip — to eat
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pit — in a race
  11. degree — temperature
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. band — a music group
  17. lie — to recline
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. stand — to bear
  20. degree — an amount
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. wound — an injury
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. chip — for betting

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