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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. swing — to play on
  5. pit — a hole
  6. spring — a coil
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. spring — the season
  9. shower — rain
  10. swing — music
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. spring — of water
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. swing — in golf
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. pit — in a race
  21. shower — to wash
  22. sharp — clever
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. jam — in traffic

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