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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. land — ground
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — a hole
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. land — to come down
  9. plane — a tool
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. land — a country
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. dip — to sink
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — after costs
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. net — in sport
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wax — to grow

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