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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. land — to come down
  3. row — to paddle
  4. pit — in a race
  5. staff — employees
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. staff — a stick
  8. cell — a phone
  9. wound — an injury
  10. row — a line
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. staff — employees
  14. court — of a king
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wound — an injury
  17. land — ground
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. court — for sport
  20. cell — in biology
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. land — a country
  24. court — of law

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