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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. pass — a permit
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bark — to shout
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pit — in a race
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. safe — a strongbox

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