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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. pop — soda
  3. pit — a hole
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pit — in a race
  6. net — after costs
  7. pop — music
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a tool
  10. sharp — clever
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. pop — to visit
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. net — for catching
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. file — a document
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. kid — to tease

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