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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pit — a hole
  11. rush — hurry
  12. file — a document
  13. cell — in biology
  14. fine — all right
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. spring — the season
  17. scale — in music
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. scale — size or range
  20. fine — high quality
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cell — a phone
  23. spring — of water
  24. file — a tool

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