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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. track — a path
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — a break
  8. capital — a city
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pit — a hole
  11. track — to keep track
  12. rest — what's left
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. track — a song
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. lash — an eyelash

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