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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. swing — music
  7. tear — from crying
  8. race — the arms race
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. fall — the season
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. mine — for digging
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — a contest
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. pit — a hole
  17. race — humankind
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. fall — to drop
  20. pit — in a race
  21. tear — to rip
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. swing — in golf
  24. fall — to drop

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