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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 120 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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. season — in sport
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. tube — the underground
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. tube — a container
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. wind — moving air
  16. net — in sport
  17. shower — rain
  18. season — of the year
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pitch — completely

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