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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. band — a music group
  4. charge — in control
  5. pit — in a race
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. field — farmland
  9. charge — a price
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. band — a ring
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. charge — electricity
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. field — a subject
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. field — for sport

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