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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 116 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. file — a line of people
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bulb — for light
  5. pit — a hole
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pit — in a race
  12. face — to confront
  13. land — a country
  14. face — part of the head
  15. face — to point toward
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bulb — for light
  18. mine — for digging
  19. file — a tool
  20. chair — a leader
  21. scale — in music
  22. file — a document
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. bulb — of a plant

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