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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. wake — a trail
  8. pit — in a race
  9. roll — a cake
  10. content — happy
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. content — the amount
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. pit — a hole
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. firm — steady
  17. roll — a list
  18. field — for sport
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. firm — a company
  21. firm — decided
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. field — a subject
  24. content — videos and posts

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