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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. rule — a law
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. lean — to bend
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. squash — to crush
  9. row — to paddle
  10. rule — government
  11. lean — thin
  12. fall — the season
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. pit — a hole
  16. squash — the sport
  17. pit — in a race
  18. fall — to drop
  19. row — a line
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. fall — to drop
  24. ball — a dance

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