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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. object — to protest
  4. hand — in cards
  5. object — a thing
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pit — in a race
  9. game — a match
  10. tube — a container
  11. clip — a video
  12. object — an aim
  13. tube — the underground
  14. clip — to cut
  15. hand — help
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. prune — to trim
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pit — a hole
  24. clip — for paper

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