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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. bank — for money
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bank — for money
  8. scale — in music
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bank — of a river
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — in a race
  15. scale — size or range
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. stock — shares
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. stock — goods
  24. cap — of ice

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