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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. mark — a trace
  6. track — a song
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. degree — from a university
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. track — to keep track
  14. wind — moving air
  15. lean — to bend
  16. mark — a grade
  17. degree — an amount
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. track — a path
  20. pit — in a race
  21. stem — to come from
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. degree — temperature

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