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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — in a race
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pit — a hole
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. craft — a skill
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. roll — a list
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. cell — a phone
  15. craft — boats
  16. field — a subject
  17. roll — a cake
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. field — farmland
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. field — for sport
  22. cell — in biology
  23. stand — to bear
  24. chest — a box

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