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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pit — a hole
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fine — high quality
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pit — in a race
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. squash — to crush
  16. fine — all right
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pop — soda
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pop — music

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