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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 120 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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. ground — a position
  3. band — a music group
  4. bat — the animal
  5. ground — the earth
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. band — a ring
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. pit — a hole
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. spring — the season
  24. ground — crushed

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