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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. rock — music
  3. board — a committee
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. capital — money
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. rock — a stone
  8. chest — of your body
  9. board — to get on
  10. capital — a city
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — in a race
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wind — moving air
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. nail — for a hammer

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