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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spell — a short time
  5. capital — a city
  6. deal — to handle
  7. land — ground
  8. pit — a hole
  9. capital — money
  10. track — a song
  11. spell — letters
  12. cold — not warm
  13. track — to keep track
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. land — a country
  16. track — a path
  17. cold — an illness
  18. land — to come down
  19. pit — in a race
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. capital — a big letter

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